Coinciding Fates
by ayamari no Goshi
Summary: A kidnapping leads to an unlikely meeting caused a brother's love. This unlikely meeting changes several fates along the way. Goes through the manga and OC alert. Please read and review. Currently editing
1. Prologue

Coinciding Fates  
By Ayamari no Goshi  
Based off of Dragonball, written by Akira Toriyama  
(He owns it, I do not)

_A word before you begin to read:_

_My work is mainly based on the Viz translation of the manga. This means that there will be slight discrepancies between what was in the anime including character and attack names and certain plot devises. When one of these appears, I will make sure that there is a footnote to alert you. Also, I do use a few Japanese words, but these are mainly family titles and suffixes. There will also be footnotes with them to explain their translation._

_The ages of some of the characters are different than in the anime. I do have a list of the given ages on my profile, so please look at that if you have any problems. I will also have OC backgrounds (which there hopefully will not be a lot) and update notifications on my profile._

_And, any questions the readers have will be answered at the end of the chapter._

_I'm now done, so please enjoy and review._

* * *

Many people have said that I've lived a very unusual life. Yet, when I look back on it, I can honestly say that my family life was actually pretty normal.

ChiChi, the daughter of the Gyu-mao (1) and my Kaa-san (2), was one of those women who would do almost anything to achieve her dreams. I mean, she even made it into the quarter finals at the Tenka'ichi Budokai (3) so that she would be able to talk to the man of her dreams. Years prior, he had promised that he would marry her, and she decided to go remind him of his promise.

The man of her dreams was a semi-well known martial artist by the name of Son Goku. He was a fierce and respected warrior, but was also kind and gentle. On top of that, he was rather forgetful. He had built quiet a reputation by placing second in the Tenka'ichi twice in a row at the ages of twelve and fifteen, which was a remarkable accomplishment for one so young.

His fights were said to be incredible. He was the student of the Muten Roshi (4) and was one of the few fighters alive who could efficiently use chi (5). On top of those abilities, he seemed to have a natural talent for fighting and could get the best of almost any situation. Outside of the ring, rumors circulated that he was somehow involved in the takedown of the crime organization known as the Red Ribbon army as well as the defeat of the Demon King, Piccolo.

Anyways, the two did fight each other in the quarter finals, and once the match was over, Son Goku proposed. The two of them were then married once the tournament was finished and Goku finally had his win.

The two of them had lived most of their lives in a more rural setting, so it was only natural when they settled in the area around Mount Paoz, which was where Goku had lived for the earlier part of his life. Kaa-san said that those early days were like a dream. It was a comfortable life due to the prize money from the tournament, and they were able to spend every day together.

Kaa-san soon wanted to realize the other part of her dream, and sometime later, I was conceived and born. I was given the name of Gohan, which was done in honor of the man who found and raised Tou-san (6), and I guess it could be stated that I was spoiled.

Kaa-san wanted the best for me in life. I was definitely babied, and she took great care of me. She also began my homeschooling practically as soon as she deemed I was ready. It was rough work as each day I studied reading, writing, history, math, and the sciences. It often felt as though I did not get enough time to play as Kaa-san was adamant about my future success.

When I did get to have time to play, I would often find playing with my Tou-san. Although, when he was out fishing, hunting, or training, I would often turn to exploring the great forest that surrounded the house. It was enjoyable as there usually wasn't anything too dangerous in it. Every once in a while I would run into a wild beast, but other than being chased a few times, they tended to leave me alone.

As I grew older, I found that I had less time to enjoy myself and be a kid. That's probably why those early years are so important to me.

Everything became so _complicated_ as the years passed. Tou-san was away from home, a lot, which took its toll on Kaa-san. It really couldn't be helped as it was part of Tou-san's job to be out helping, but it never made it easier to handle. I would often make it appear that Tou-san's absences did not affect me too much, so that Kaa-san wouldn't have to worry. As I aged, that desire became permanently imbedded as maturity.

Tou-san would do anything to protect his family and friends, which further added to the reasons why he was not always home. Since he had been my idol from as far back as I could remember, I tended to feel like I had to do the same when he was away, which again added to that maturity.

Yeah, sure, Tou-san was away from home more than many other fathers, but it still wasn't too odd. There are many other kids that have similar situations. But, we were usually happy, even when we weren't together, and there was a strong sense of family.

The only thing that was a little odd about my family life dealt with a rivalry. I once (and often still do) had a rather intense rivalry with another person who is only a little older than me. She was just as much a part of the family as I was. We could often be seen studying together, and the two of us would often compete over grades. The desire to do better than her would often compel me to study, even on days that I really did not feel like it.

We would often play together as well. We could often be seen racing or climbing trees, which would turn into friendly competitions. That was probably not the smartest thing that we could do as those competitions would often end with at least one of us getting hurt.

Usually, those injuries were nothing more severe than a scratch, scrape, or splinter, but once she was hurt pretty badly. We were playing in a rocky location, and I'm still not too sure what happened, but she ended up falling and hurting her leg. I panicked, but was eventually able to get Tou-san to come help.

He was a little unsure of what to do since it was clear that she was in pain, even though she was trying to put on a tough face. So, he decided to take her to a close friend of his to see if she could help. I was worried when while they were gone since my young mind blew the situation out of proportion, so I was incredibly relieved when they returned.

It turned out that she had fractured (it was more like a crack) a bone in her leg and had been placed in a cast by a doctor. She didn't seem to be concerned with the cast. Instead, she was telling me stories of the friend to whom Tou-san had taken her. The friend's name was Bulma Briefs, and she lived in a huge house. The house didn't seem to interest her, but the woman's eyes did. They were a vivid blue color, and she had never seen blue eyes before.

After she healed, our business went back to normal, even though were we now a bit more careful near that particular rocky area. She was the only person I could be around, except for Tou-san, that would allow me to act like a kid. That's probably why I remember her so fondly.

Unfortunately, those early years did not last very long: she disappeared just before she was to turn four. We had no idea what happened to her for some time.

This worried my parents. Tou-san would often go look for her to no avail, and Kaa-san became more overprotective of me, in hopes that another person she loved would not be taken away from her. It also caused me to develop a distrust and shyness towards strangers (which eventually faded) as she was taken by one.

Eventually, she returned, but would not talk much about what had happened to her. It took years for her to explain what happened, but her story is best told from her own mouth. So, I will now step aside and let her speak. This is story of what happened to my nee-chan, Son Goshi (7).

* * *

_XiaoPang, t__o answer your question, I am not capable of reading Chinese. I had heard this several years ago, and after having no one dispute this, assumed that it was correct. I shall look into this, and for now, that line will be edited._

Footnotes:

1 Gyu-mao is the Japanese term for the Ox King.

2 Kaa-san is an informal way of saying mother.

3 Also known as the World Martial Arts Championship.

4 Muten is a more serious title given to Master Roshi. It seemingly means the same as master.

5 Chi is the energy of the body in Kung Fu, which is the style of martial arts on which the martial arts of dragonball are based. In Japanese, this is translated to Ki, but I don't like to use that translation as Kung Fu is Chinese.

6 Tou-san is an informal way of saying father.

7 Two things here: First, Nee-chan is an informal way of saying older sister. Second, Goshi is an actual name, but it's more commonly used as a boy's name.


	2. Abductions

It was an incredibly nice day. Dad had somehow managed to convince Mother to let my brother and I take a walk with him in the woods before lunch. Although he did not let Mother know, Dad had done it to rescue us from the monotony of studying for at least a short period of time, and we were quite thankful.

Although my brother and I did not really notice anything out of the ordinary, Dad did. He noticed the lack of noise and movement in a forest that was usually teaming with life and sounds. In response, he remained rather alert instead of allowing himself to relax like he usually did.

Gohan did ask him what was wrong, at least once, but he just smiled and shook his head. He rarely would do anything to worry his family more than usual, unless it was something that absolutely had to be known. So, to cover his uneasiness, he suggested that we headed back to the house a little earlier than he normally would. I guess he hoped that it would allow us to miss whatever the potential threat was.

We were almost home when a sudden rustling sound came from behind us. Dad immediately pushed us behind him and took a defensive stance. "I know you're there! Show yourself!" he demanded.

"Impressive," a snickering voice replied. "I didn't know that a Saiyan could sense chi. I'll have to make sure I report that to the good doctor."

"Saiyan…?" Dad wondered aloud. Gohan and I were just as surprised that he was as unfamiliar with the word as we were, but that surprise was quickly replaced by fear when Dad's expression changed. He had realized that the owner of the voice was a threat.

The voice then chuckled as its owner revealed itself. A gasp sounded from the three of us in response: it was not human. It was humanoid in appearance, but that was pretty much as the only true similarity. The skin appeared to be made of metal, and its eyes reminded me of the marks on eye pieces that help align a weapon with its intended target, but instead of being black, they were red.

"Wh-what are you?" Dad demanded as it took a step towards us.

"Step aside: I'm not interested in dealing with you." It pointed to me and Gohan. "Just give me one of the children, and I'll be on my way." The entire time it spoke, it stared at us. Those eyes gave both of us the impression that we were targets.

"Why do you want them?" Dad's defensive stance switched to an offensive one. It was clear that he believed that there was a strong chance that the discussion would turn violent.

"And you think you can stop me?" it laughed as it approached us. "But to answer your question… we wish to use one of the children's bodies as a vessel for the doctor's newest creation. It is nothing more than a necessity for our goals."

"What do you mean?"

It laughed again. "I don't expect you to understand, but I'll try to put it simply. Your race could throw a wrench into our plans. We've decided that the only way to counter that threat would to have a member of your race under our control. That's where your children come in. Since they are so young, they won't be as difficult to handle and easier to mold than an older one. This makes them perfect for our plans."

"And do you think that I'll let you take them?" Dad demanded. "I'll give you one warning: leave now or I will make you. I won't let you lay a hand on them!" His expression was fierce, yet there was a bit of nervousness visible. That was not a good sign: Gohan and I were already scared, and knowing that Dad was nervous amplified our fears.

"I see that you have the characteristic stupidity of your race. It's clear to you that I am much stronger than you, and yet you're still going to try to defend them. But if you wish to die that much, I'd be happy to oblige." It again moved closer. "You see, we've waited for a long time for this opportunity, and we might not get this chance again if you or they improve."

It then smiled. "No under-trained Saiyan is going to keep me from my mission." Before Dad even had a chance to react, it easily knocked him aside.

"T-tou-san!" Gohan and I yelled, terrified. It laughed again as it approached us.

I was absolutely frozen in place. Dad, one of the strongest men in the world, had been knocked aside as if he was nothing more than a fly! There was no way this thing could be stopped!

A strong tug on my arm brought me to my senses: Gohan was trying to get me to move. As soon as I could move again, the two of us ran off the trail and into the woods with Gohan leading the way.

………….

There was really no rhyme or reason to our movements. We just hoped that if we kept moving that we would be able to lose it. Unfortunately, that desire led us to an unfamiliar part of the forest which made us lost and hunted.

As the two of us further began to panic, we began to hear noises. We had stayed still for too long, and it was beginning to close in on us. It then donned on us that there was no way that we were going to be able to outrun it so we decided that we needed to hide.

The most logical place to hide was in one of the trees, since there were so many around us. There were also incredibly high, so hopefully they would be able to keep us out of its eye level. I immediately helped my brother get himself into the closest one, and was going to do the same when I heard more noises.

Panic once again set in, and I ran in the complete opposite direction, forgetting that I was supposed to be trying to hide. Low branches and rocks tore at me as I paid no attention to where I was going, and I prayed that it was not behind me. I soon found a thicket and crawled inside of it, hoping that it would be enough of a shelter from it while I caught my breath.

I then heard footsteps and immediately covered my mouth to muffle the sounds of my heavy breathing. From my hiding place, I could see its feet, and I was relieved when it walked away. A wave of relief washed over me when its footsteps faded away, and I thought that the immediate danger was over.

A hand then broke through the top of the thicket. I screamed and crawled out of it; it had found me. Once I could stand, I ran for it, but before I could get far, it grabbed the back of my shirt. "Sorry, but I think I've played this game of hide and seek long enough. You're coming with me." It then grabbed a better hold of me and took off into the sky.

…………

A short time later, I found myself strapped to a metal table in a large metal contraption, which it had identified as being its 'ship.' I was terrified and confused as I watched what appeared to be chaos occurred around me. Several things, which I believed to be robots, scuttled around the room we were in, pressing buttons of the many machines and bringing supplies to the area beside the table.

As the movements settled, a large box with what appeared to be metal rods sticking out of it was moved to beside the table. I stared at it as my mind began to imagine what horrors it would mean for me.

"The preparations are finished, General Rildo," a robot told my assailant. "Shall we begin?"

"Excellent… yes." It then moved over to the table and stretched out my one hand. "This won't hurt a bit," it told me with an evil grin as it grabbed one of the rods. It then placed that rod onto my hand, causing me to scream. The rod was heated. After leaving it there for a few moments, it placed the rod back in the box, grabbed a different one, and repeated the process.

It continued to do that for some time. I was rather surprised when he stopped. "W-why are y-you doing th-this…?" I stuttered. "W-why me?"

"What? Do you think you're special?" it laughed. "Weren't you paying attention to what I said to your Tou-san? Either one of you would have worked. The only reason you're here is that I found you first. If I had found the other one, he'd be here instead." It then paused for a moment. "You're wondering what we're doing as well. It's nothing other than making sure that we have a way to identify you in the unlikely case you get away from us when we get to our destination, since your race does look like several others."

It then looked at my hand. "I don't think that we've finished just yet." It then grabbed another rod and placed it into my hand, causing me to scream again. The pain was even worse than the first time. It just laughed as it repeated the process.

………….

I woke up with a start sometime later: I had unknowingly passed out from the pain. Looking around, I discovered that I was alone and locked in a different room than I had been previously. Images of what happened prior to my blackout flooded my mind, causing me to breakdown and cry. Dad was hurt, Gohan was lost but hopefully safe, Mother was unaware, and I was terrified. I curled into a ball in hopes that it would help.

Thoughts of escaping did cross my mind, but I doubted that any of them would work. It would just find me and bring me back if I tried, so I did nothing. I just waited.

I soon noticed that I could hear metallic sounds coming from somewhere outside the room. I assumed that they were coming from the robots that were helping my assailant. For some time, I ignored them, but that was before the sounds of small explosions filled the room. As I listened, the sounds grew louder and more intense, until the point that I swore that the sounds were originating from outside my room.

I could hear voices by that point. Several sounded like the metallic voices of the robots, but there was another and it sounded human. I held my breath as I listened. Was it Dad?

It soon became apparent that the human voice was not my Dad's. Although it was a male's voice, it sounded too young. From what I could make out, he was fighting with the robots while demanding something that I was unable to make out.

Who was this stranger? Was he going to help me? Or was he only there to pick a fight with the robots and was not aware of my presence?

Several more explosions then occurred and were followed by silence. Fear began to grip me as I intently listened for any possible noise. Although I did not know if the new stranger was a friend, he could be my only chance of escape, and I was afraid he might have been killed.

Suddenly, the door to the room opened, causing the smoke that was filling the hallway to billow into the room. "Son Goshi, are you in here?" a voice then called out. It was the male's voice.

"I'm not going to repeat myself again!" he shouted after a short pause. There was definitely irritation in his voice, but it was coupled with haste. "Son Goshi, are you here?"

"I-I… I'm over here," I stuttered. Even though it now looked like he was going to rescue me, I was definitely frightened by him. For all I knew, he could be Rildo's rival.

I was unsure if the male heard me, but seconds later, a figure approached me from within the smoke. He was surprisingly young, maybe only ten years my senior. His hair was short and the same color of purple that Bulma's had been (1). He even had blue eyes like hers, but instead of showing kindness and friendship, his were serious and hostile. His expression was one of distaste, showing me that he believed that he had better things to do than to be in a ship with a young child.

"There's no doubt who you are… you look like Gohan-san (2)," the boy sneered. "Oh well, a promise is a promise… Come on, we need to get out now while the confusion lasts." He then tucked me under his arm before I had a chance to protest and rushed into the smoke.

As we moved, I was able to see that several of the robots had been destroyed and were now littering the floor. There were also holes in the walls that were surrounded by scorch marks. I looked up at the person carrying me: was it possible that he was able to use chi as well? The only other person I knew who could do that was Dad, so if this guy could as well, that meant that he was most likely dangerous.

Moments later, the boy went through a doorway that brought us to the outside world. To me, it looked like we were in an area that was not too far from home, which made me hope that was where he was going to take me. I was wrong.

We kept moving through the sea of trees that surrounded Rildo's ship, and instead of arriving at my house, we encountered a rather strange looking machine. It almost looked like a yellow rocket with four spidery-legs. The boy approached it, floated up to the dome that adorned the machine, and pressed a button that opened it. I was then placed behind the only seat in the compartment it covered.

"Don't touch anything!" the boy warned me was he hopped into the seat, pressed some buttons, and closed the dome. "Don't speak. Don't move. Don't do anything! Do I make myself clear?" He then spun around and glared at me.

"I understand…" I replied meekly as I tried to stare back. It was nearly impossible; I was too frightened by the foreign color of his eyes.

"Good. At least you're not stupid…" He then paused as he looked up. His expression immediately became panicked. "H-he found us. I-I thought that we would have more time!" He then began to press several other buttons that lined the wall in front of him. "Hold on kid! This is going to be rough!"

I could hear Rildo yelling; it sounded angry. That was a bad thing. I had no idea what it might do, but if it could floor my dad, it did not want to find out. I happened to look up, and I realized that it was trying to attack us from the sky.

Luck seemed to be on our side though. Before it got remotely close to us, the scenery around us flickered and disappeared. It was replaced by a strange blackness that was filled with flashes of what appeared to be green lightning.

"That was too close…" I heard the male say as fell back against the seat. "Gohan-san, I hope you appreciate what I'm doing."

I stared at him with a strange mixture of fear and reverence. He had managed to save me from Rildo, and hopefully the Gohan he mentioned was my Gohan. But on the reverse side, he had not taken me home, and I had no idea what he was going to do with me. There was no way to know what would come once our journey was over.

By the time the machine we were in came to a stop I was feeling extremely sick. The boy had to physically lift me out of the machine since I was in no condition to move. He then tried to set me on the ground so that I could recover some. It did not work as I fell over almost immediately.

"Trunks? Is that you?" I heard someone call out. The voice was a woman's and was almost familiar to me for some reason. I then heard the sound of heavy footsteps; someone was running towards us. "Is that her? …Oh my god! What happened to her?"

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Who is this young stranger? And what does he possibly have in store for our young hero? Be sure to find out on the next episode of Dragonballz!

* * *

1 Bulma's hair is usually shown to be the same color as her son's in the manga.

2 San is a suffix used to show respect. Mirai no Trunks (future Trunks) and Gohan tend to use this suffix in reference to almost everyone as both are shown to be incredibly polite.


	3. The Price of Safety

By the time the machine the boy and I were in came to a stop, I was feeling extremely sick. The boy had to physically life me out of the machine, since I was in no condition to move. He then tried to set me on the ground so that I could recover some. It did not work as I fell over almost immediately.

"Trunks? Is that you?" I then heard someone call out. The voice was a woman's and was vaguely familiar. I then heard the sound of heavy footsteps; someone was running towards us. "Is that her? …Oh my god! What happened?"

I tried to look up at the speaker, but I was unable. Exhaustion from my current state of being was washing over me. Too much had happened and the world was becoming a blurred mess.

"She got sick on the ride over," the boy replied uncaringly as someone picked me up. "I don't have a clue what they might have done to her before I arrived."

"Quick, we need to get her inside before something else happens to her," the woman replied urgently.

More was said afterwards, but the blackness swallowed the voices along with any thoughts that I had at the time. It was such a welcome reprieve from the terrors of the day.

…………..

When I woke up sometime later, I was praying that everything that I had seen had been nothing more than a horrible dream. My eyes told me otherwise when I finally decided to open them. I was definitely not at home, but I was not in Rildo's ship either, which was a huge relief to me.

"This… almost looks like the room I was in at Bulma-san's house…" I said aloud in an awed voice. Relief washed over me. I was in a familiar place, and even though I had no idea how I managed to get so far from home, I knew that Dad would be able to come get me.

It was then that I remembered something. If I was safe, did that mean that Rildo went after Dad and/or Gohan! I had to know! So without even thinking, I immediately began removing myself from the bed on which I had been lying.

"And where do you think you're going?" someone asked me as the door to the room opened. It was the same female voice that I had heard earlier, only this time I was able to see the speaker's face.

"Bulma-san!" I said happily, remembering the manners Mother had taught me. "I-it really is you!" Happiness then gave way to laughter. I then realized that there was something more important than this reunion and ran up to her.

"Thank goodness you're here! It's going to go after Gohan! We've gotta do something! We've gotta let Tou-san know!" I spoke quickly, thinking that it was the only way to let her know what was wrong without wasting time.

"Whoa! Calm down, Goshi-chan (1)," Bulma told me as knelt down and placed her hand on my head. "Nothing's going to happen to them."

"But… but…! It said that either one of us would do…. And… and… now that I'm not there… and Gohan's so close… it's… it's gonna go after him!"

"It's okay. Trust me, they're fine."

"But… how…?"

She stopped me before I could get any more words out of my mouth. "Trust me, after the damage Trunks did to that ship, there's no way that thing is going to risk going after Gohan-kun (2). It's going to head back to wherever it came from so that it can repair the damages and recalculate its plan of attack since Trunks was probably much strong opponent than was expected."

"How can you be so sure? What if… what if you're wrong?"

She frowned slightly. "There is the small chance that would happen, but his ship was severely damaged. That ship is his escape route. And trust me; he's the kind of villain that has to be able to make his escape in one piece. If there's a chance that his victim might not survive the return trip, he will pull back."

I stared at her. How could she know that its ship was damaged, let alone how much damage? Also, why was she so sure that my dad and brother were fine? I would not be convinced of that until I could see them with my own eyes.

"So… do you have any more questions for me?" she asked. Her tone implied that I was not allowed to ask any more questions that involved what had happened.

I nodded. "Can I go home? Oh… and who's this Trunks person?"

She frowned again. "Unfortunately, no. Besides, it won't be that easy, and Trunks is my son."

"Why won't it be easy! Tou-san can come get me, can't he? …Wait, you have a son!" That particular piece of information completely broke every other train of thought I had. "But you didn't have any kids the last time I saw you… and wasn't that just a year ago? And Tou-san said that you didn't have any either!"

She chuckled. "Believe it or not Goshi-chan, it's actually been some time since you've seen me. I was actually surprised that you recognized me."

The expression on my face was comprised of complete confusion. What she said made absolutely no sense to me. It had only been about a year since I last saw her, but when I looked at her features more closely, I began to rethink my assertion. Her hair was much longer than before, and her face looked aged and troubled. If I did not know better, I might have said that she had somehow managed to age ten or more years.

"I don't understand…" I eventually told her.

"I really don't expect you to," she admitted, "but where we are now, it's been years since I last saw you. And during that time, I had my son, who you meet earlier."

"You mean the one who rescued me?"

"Yep, that's him!" She seemed rather proud of her son. She gave off that same sense of pride that Mother did when either me or Gohan did well on one of our tests.

An irritated noise interrupted us, both of us turned towards the door to see the young man who rescued me, Trunks, leaning against the doorframe and looking rather angry. "Why are you even bothering to explain things to her? She's not going to understand, and isn't she going home as soon as the time machine gets recharged?"

"It's going to take several months for it to recharge," Bulma explained to him as she stood up. "Since she's going to be here for a while, she might as well know. Besides, I have to make some repairs, which will push the departure date back, and by that time, everyone will be either preparing to fight the Saiyans, actually fighting them, or on their way to Namek. It will be too chaotic to take her back then."

"Repairs? What do you mean?"

Bulma's expression became rather stern. "Like you didn't know! When you returned, I discovered a rather large hole in the hull of the time machine! You should be glad that you were even able to make it back! That could have caused a serious malfunction!"

"But no one touched it!" he replied defensively.

"Really? Then how did that hole get there?"

"Um… maybe… one of those other robots did something while Rildo tried to attack…" I pointed out meekly in hopes that I could end the fight. I really wanted to know what was happening, and the only way that was seemingly going to happen was if Bulma explained it, which would not happen if she was focused on arguing.

Trunks immediately glared at me once I finished speaking, which caused me to regret saying anything. That glare spoke volumes; he did not like me.

Bulma missed her son's glare as she ran her hand through her hair and looked at me. "Well, Goshi-chan, you just heard part of the reason that you can't go home. Until we get that machine back up and running, we won't be able to contact your family, let alone take you home."

"And Tou-san can come here?"

"Unfortunately, he can't. But don't worry about it!" she said in a slightly alarmed voice as she noticed my saddened expression. "While you're here we'll treat you like you're one of the family! This will be your room! And before you know it, you'll be able to go home. Okay?"

I hesitantly nodded. I was still really confused by the entire situation, but at least I was not in danger any more.

"Oh, and Trunks here is going to help take care of you as well," Bulma said suddenly as an afterthought.

Trunks and I just stared at her. "Why? It's not like I'm related to her or anything," he said in a defensive manner. "The only reason I saved her was because I promised Gohan-san that I would."

"Because this goes along with your promise to him as well, remember?"

"Whatever," he replied as he walked out of the room.

"Hey! You come back here!" When he did not comply, Bulma sighed and turned towards me. "Teenagers," she sighed as if that perfectly explained the reasoning behind her son's behavior. "Don't let him get to you too much. He recently lost his mentor, so he's a little more moody than he usually is." I just nodded for lack of a better response.

Bulma then looked over at a clock that was hanging on the wall. "It's pretty late. Please try to get a little more sleep. I know things are confusing right now, but everything will begin to make sense." She then moved towards the door as I put myself back on the bed and turned off the lights. "I'll see you in the morning." She then left.

I stared at the ceiling for some time afterwards. So much had happened, and I understood so little of it. I just knew that I could not go home, my family was supposedly safe, and I was stuck with a teenager who seemed to hate me.

………….

"Morning, Goshi-chan!" Bulma's loud and cheerful voice somehow managed to wake me from a deep slumber.

"G-good morning," I replied as I unsuccessfully stifled a yawn. I was still exhausted, probably from sleeping so much from the previous day.

"You look like you've had a rough night," she told me while wearing a somewhat concerned expression. "But I bet that I know exactly what will cheer you up! Follow me; breakfast is waiting for you downstairs!" The prospect of breakfast did cheer me up, and I even allowed Bulma to lead me through her house while holding my hand.

Trunks was already in the enormous kitchen by the time the two of us entered. After giving a quick greeting to his mother, he finished what he was doing and quickly exited the room. "I don't know why you're moping!" Bulma called after him, "but you're not going to make this easier for yourself if you don't try to be civilized."

"I swear, sometimes that boy is just like his Tou-san." Bulma then shook her head before she turned and winked at me. "You wouldn't know by looking at him, since he takes after me, but Trunks' Tou-san was a Saiyan, just like yours!"

"Saiyan?" I asked in a puzzled voice. "Rildo called Tou-san that too… but what's a Saiyan? Tou-san didn't know what it meant…"

Bulma stared at me for a moment before she began to laugh. "I forgot that you didn't know. It's been common knowledge to us for some time." She then paused for a moment before she continued. "You're Tou-san won't actually learn this for about another year, but he's actually not human. He's a member of a race called the Saiyans, who were apparently well-known for being both great fighters and planet pirates."

I eyed her rather carefully. She did not appear to be lying or joking. "So… Tou-san's an alien…?"

"Yep."

"There's no such thing!"

She chuckled as she ruffled my hair. "You don't believe me? Well, you'll find out soon enough. Anyways, you better starting eating now before your breakfast gets cold. I want you in tip-top shape for when we go out later today. Since I really don't have any clothes lying around here for someone your age, we need to go get some."

I grimaced; I really did not like shopping. "What's that look for, huh?" Bulma asked me. "It's not like a little shopping is going to kill you. Besides, I highly doubt that you want to run around in the same clothes everyday like your Tou-san. Oh! There we go! You finally smiled!" she noted as one managed to find its way to my lips. "For a second, I thought I saw Son-kun! You look so much like him!"

"Oh, and it won't be all clothes shopping either," Bulma added, I guess to make sure that I remained in my good mood. "We're also going to go look for some decorations for your room too."

"Sorry to interrupt," Trunks stated as he reentered the room, "but Kaa-san, I'm going out."

"No, you're not!" she told him in a stern voice. "You're going out to fight those androids, aren't you? I knew it! You can't hide it from me. But let me ask you this? What do you expect to do to them? You're no stronger than Gohan-kun was, and look what they did to him! Besides, you haven't even eaten yet. Do you really think you're ready to charge into a pointless battle?"

Trunks stood speechless. Apparently, whatever argument he was going to use was snuffed by his mother. Bulma took notice as she moved towards the counter. "Besides Trunks," she continued as she began making us some toast, "you're still upset. If there's one thing I learned from knowing so many fighters, it's dangerous to go into a battle distracted."

A little later, breakfast was finished and the three of us ate in relative silence. Bulma had tried to strike up a conversation, but any attempt ended with Trunks replying with a sharp answer. To boot, he still had not looked me in the eyes since he glared at me the night before, which irritated me more than his manner of speech.

"Well, now that we're all happily fed," Bulma told us as she put our dishes in the sink once we were finished, "it's time to go shopping! Oh, and Trunks, you're coming with us. Don't try to talk your way out of it either!" she warned him before he could speak. "I'm keeping my eye on you today!"

"This is not the time for you to be over-protective!" he yelled.

"Oh, yes it is! You're coming with us whether you like it or not! I'm not going to have you killed because of your think-headedness! Besides, if you don't, you're grounded; it's as simple as that."

And much to my surprise, the three of us were in Bulma's car approximately ten minutes later and flying down the main street of West City. As we moved, I found myself fixated on the scenery. So much had been destroyed, which I did not understand. When I had seen the city with my dad, it had been bustling and seemed almost brand new… now, it was little more than selected ruins.

"Oh, Goshi-chan, did I mention that you're going to get to train while you're staying with us?" Bulma asked me after some time.

That caught my attention. I immediately turned towards her. "Train? How?"

"How else? You're gonna learn martial arts!"

"Y-you're serious?" I was absolutely elated when she nodded in reply. I had dreamt of being able to fight like my dad, and here was my chance!

"You're forgetting one thing," Trunks snorted, "there's no one left to train her. So why fill her head with such illusions?"

"Yes there is." Bulma then leaned back over the seat so she could stare at him. "You're going to train her! Gohan-kun made me promise that you would."

"You're… you're kidding! How could I train someone like her?"

"You don't think I'd be a good student?" I asked in an almost heart-broken voice. He just stared at me in revulsion.

"Well, Trunks? Is that the problem?" Bulma demanded. He just huffed and looked away. She then smiled, triumphantly, and looked at me, "Well, that takes care of that. What do you say that I get him to start your training as soon as you get back?"

"Can we?" I asked with an impatient happiness that is characteristic of my dad. I then looked at Trunks, "But only if Trunks-nii (3) agrees to it!"

"That sounds like a plan. What do you think Trunks?" Bulma turned to stare at her son again.

"Whatever."

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

What new development is this? Is Goshi really going to receive training from the young man who seems to hate her? And why does it seem like there's more to her not being able to go home? Find out next time on the next episode of Dragonballz!

* * *

1 Chan is another suffix. It is used in respect to both genders of very young kids, but as they age, it is usually only attached to a girl's name. It is also usually only used by those who know each other very well.

2 Kun is a suffix that is usually used in respect to guys, also usually by those who know each other well, although superiors will often address those under them with this suffix. A great example of this occurs in school, as the teacher will commonly address every student as "last name-kun."

3 Nii means older brother (a suffix is usually added to it though). Here, it's being attached as a suffix as a bit of a nickname to show that Goshi is already starting to view Trunks as such.


	4. Training for Beginners

By the time that we returned to Bulma's house with our overly large hall (Bulma had gone more than a bit overboard with finding new clothes), I was overly antsy and ready to get started with my training. Although, I had to admit, I was more than a little bit unsure of being trained by Trunks.

Bulma had revealed on our trip that he was only fourteen. It astounded me, seeing as he had been able to stand up to the creature that had knocked my dad aside like a fly. I knew he was strong, but someone that young is not exactly the greatest choice for a teacher. From what I had heard about teenagers, they were moody and usually only interested in nothing more than looks or the opposite gender.

Trunks seemed to be having similar thoughts about me. As I put my new clothes away, I heard him and Bulma arguing about the matter. He seemed to believe that I was just like any other young child; a whiny, spoiled brat, who would cry after the first punch. He was also more than a little uncomfortable with the prospect of training with someone who had a tail.

……….

I guess I had forgotten to mention that I had a tail. Both my brother and I had been born with one. Apparently, we had inherited it from our father, who was never able to discover why he had one when no one else around him did. His had been cut off before we were born though.

………

"Who else is going to train her is you won't?" I heard Bulma demand of her son sometime after the argument began. "Besides, what else is there for her to do while she's here? Who knows, maybe she can even be of some help to you."

"Like that could ever happen!" he snarled.

"You don't know that, Trunks-nii." Both he and Bulma turned to look at me as I entered the room. "And no offense, but both of you are being really loud."

"Pheh, shouldn't you be studying or something?" He was more than a little annoyed with my interruption.

"Kaa-san forced me to study almost every day!" I told him irritably. "I didn't like it! I want to be able to do something that I actually want to do, like training!" He just raised an eyebrow at me.

"That's the spirit Goshi-chan!" Bulma told me. "But, you know, you are going to have to study while you're here. Since you are eventually going home, it's better for you to be caught up with your school work instead of letting your Kaa-san force it down your throat when you get back."

I winced; I had completely forgotten about Mother. She was going to have a lot to say to me when I returned home, and she got over the fact that I was really back. She would probably yell at me and say that she had been so worried about me. Then she would cry and probably ground me for at least a month.

I was not exactly looking forward to that, even though I really wanted to let everyone know I was fine and see if my dad my brother were okay as well.

"Wait… so you're not forcing her on me every single day…?" Trunks asked his mother after realizing what she had said meant for him.

"Nope, but if you try going after those androids again anytime soon, I just might." Bulma had clearly triumphed. After nodding, Trunks had nothing else to say on the matter, and once he had glared at me again, he beckoned for me to follow him.

Bulma grabbed my shoulder and knelt down beside me before I had a chance to move. "Don't let his attitude get to you. He's usually much nicer. Just work hard and try to impress him. I know you can do it! Good luck!" She then gave me an encouraging push forward.

"Are you coming or not?" Trunks yelled, which caused me to jump.

"I'm coming!" After a deep breath, I ran after him.

………..

"So, how far are you exactly?" Trunks asked me once he had me to a part of the large and rubble-filled yard that surrounded his house.

I fidgeted for a moment before I answered him. "I can punch and kick… but that's it." I was absolutely embarrassed to admit that to him, but I felt that it was better than lying. "Kaa-san never let me or Gohan anywhere near our Tou-san when he was training… unless he was doing pushups or crunches while in the house…"

He made a disgusted noise. "So you're telling me that that you practically know nothing about fighting… that's just great." He then sighed and rolled his eyes. "We might as well get started."

After showing me the proper way to throw a punch, he decided that it would be easier to teach me through experience rather than explanation. I was more than a little unprepared for that approach, seeing as I thought that he was going to be somewhat nice to me on the first day.

After a few hours, I was dirty, bruised, and bleeding from a cut that had somehow appeared on my cheek. Trunks showed absolutely no signs of remorse either, which irritated me. He had knocked me down at least three hundred separate times and would not help me up! Apparently, he was either that serious about his version of training, or he hated me.

Bulma was also not exactly happy with the state that I was in either when she came out to check on us a while later. After yelling at Trunks to be gentler, she hurried me inside so that I could rest a little and be cleaned off.

"I guess that we should change the bandages on your hand while we're at it," she told me as she helped me wash my face and locate some fresh clothes (I'm not exactly precise when it comes to organizing things). "Let me go hind some fresh bandages and a first aid kit, and I'll be right back. Okay?"

After she left the room, I looked down at my hand. I had not really thought much about it since the previous day. It was still sensitive, but it had been dressed by some unknown person or thing. I was almost dreading to know what it looked like.

Bulma reappeared a few moments later with the first aid kit she had mentioned. After reassuring me that there was nothing in it that would cause another injury, she began to unwrap the bandages.

"W-what is this?" she asked in a hushed voice. I was surprised as well to see that my hand was red, swollen, and had indents on it, probably from the rods. Rildo had branded me.

"That looks like it hurts…" Bulma continued as she gently examined it. "Oops, I'm sorry!" she said as I winced. "Do you know why it did this?"

I frowned. "It said it was so it could find me if I managed to escape… but I think it also said that Gohan would have had the same mark if it would have gotten to him first."

"Well… the best we can do with this is see if we can get that swelling down," she told me as she rummaged around in the first aid kit. "I really hope that it only damaged the skin." She then put some ointment on it and wrapped it again.

"Okay, we're done, but Goshi-chan, you've got to promise me that you're going to be careful with that hand. I don't think that you'll enjoy it if that got infected." I nodded in agreement. Bulma then ruffled my hair and lead me back to the first floor.

I sighed as we walked. It was going to take me forever to memorize the layout of this place.

…………

After that day, my life fell into a set routine. Three to five days a week, I would train with Trunks, while I would study on the other days. I would also explore the large compound when I had some free time and when no one was around.

Bulma did not like it when she did not know where I was and would make a large fuss when I reappeared. I often tried to tell her that I was just trying figure out how to get around, but she did not want to hear any of it. It was almost as if she was trying to act like my mother, but I really could never view her as such. It did take some time, but Bulma and I did begin to grow close to one another. The same could not be said of her son.

After about a month of training, I was convinced that he absolutely hated me and was not being hard on me just because of training. During our days training together, I had improved a little, seeing as I could block the occasional punch, but he never noticed. He just focused on hitting me a little harder each day.

He gave me no praises, just criticisms, and would not say my name. I just usually just "you" to him. Outside of our one-sided sparring matches, he never spoke to me. I was just ignored and treated as if I did not exist.

It was upsetting to me. I wanted to be acknowledged by him, to be seen. Since I was not able to see my family, I wanted the only person in my new life, who was somewhat close to my age, talk to me and view me as a friend. But I was not really a person to him; I was his punching bag.

It was painful, but things did begin to change after about five months.

………..

The back of my hand no longer felt tender by that time, although the skin tended to feel tight due to the healing process. I was even allowed to keep the wrappings off of it during my days of studying. I was relieved by that, since those bandages were rather annoying.

My fighting had also improved. The sessions had become a little less rough on me, seeing as I was not falling down as much. I was even able to break through Trunks' defenses and nail him on rare occasions.

"You've improved a great deal," he told me one day after nearly sending me into a wall. I thought that he was just teasing me, but after looking at his face, I realized that he was actually serious.

"T-thanks," I replied in an embarrassed tone. After months of having nothing friendlier than a criticism said to me, it was an odd feeling. It was welcome, no questions asked, but it was still odd.

"How about I start trying to teach you how to fly tomorrow? Is that okay, Goshi-kun?"

I was absolutely shocked. He had never spoken my name before, and I was nearly convinced that the person in front of me was not the same Trunks that had been training me. The thought even came into my mind that I should run from the imposter and warn Bulma that something had happened to her son.

"Is something wrong…?" he asked once he noticed that the expression I was wearing was somewhere in between shock and distrust.

"You are Trunks-nii, aren't you?" I asked hesitantly.

"Of all the ridiculous…! What's gotten into you?"

I looked away from him. "You never say my name…" He gave me an incredulous look, which then turned into something of a glare. I then fidgeted for a moment. "Um… can I ask why you're using 'kun'?"

"Because you don't feel like a 'chan'." He then began walking back towards the house. "Come on. We're done for the day."

I was unsure whether or not I was actually insulted by his words, since 'kun' was usually only used for guys, but I said nothing as I followed him. He had actually said my name, and that meant more to me than a possible insult.

……………..

I absolutely enjoyed practice the next day. Surprisingly, I managed to understand what Trunks was saying about chi, and somehow figured out how to access it within the day. From there, we moved onto how one goes about controlling such a thing.

This sort of practice was much more enjoyable than our sparring matches. It just seemed easier to understand and gain results. What was really interesting was how many different ways one could control their chi! It was fun to experiment with it, even though I accidently managed to send myself flying with a chi explosion that was improperly timed.

I guess it was about a week after we started this part of the training that he began teaching me the art of Bakku-jutsu (1). It was absolutely amazing, once I got the hang of it. It was very peaceful up in the air, but it was sad too. Looking out, you could see the scope of the destruction that had occurred, and I still had no idea what had caused it.

Trunks seemed a bit relieved once our flight training was finally done. The only explain as to why that I could get out of him was that it would come in handy the longer I stayed at his home. That puzzled me. I was still convinced that Dad would be able to come get me and take me home if they called him, but even if I asked, Trunks and Bulma would not further explain my situation. It was frustrating.

Although I did not know it at the time, I did not have to wait all that much longer for an answer.

………….

A few months later during another training secession, an explosion rocked the entire area. "They're really close this time…" Trunks mentioned as he stared in the direction from where the blast originated. He then looked at me, "Goshi-kun, go back into the house! It's going to get too dangerous for you out here. Make sure to let my Kaa-san know what's happening."

"But what's happening? And what are you going to do?" I asked in a confused voice.

"I'll explain later. I just need to get them away from the city."

" 'Them'? Who's 'them'?"

He looked at me with a stunned expression on his face, which quickly faded into seriousness. "That's right, you wouldn't know… You've seen some of the destruction that's occurred here. Well, they're the cause of it: two androids, who are the strongest beings anyone's ever come across."

"Androids?" For a moment I felt like I was in part of a novel. He was not being serious, was he? I looked over at the large smoke cloud that was now rising over the blast site. I was not sure if there were really androids, but there was definitely something strong out there.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

What development is this? Who or what are these so-called androids who have Trunks so worried? And what could their presence mean? Find out on the next action-packed episode of Dragonballz!

* * *

1 Bakku-jutsu is another name for the art of levitation or flying.


	5. Confrontation

"Did you hear me, Goshi-kun?" Trunks snapped after noticing that I had not moved. "Get into the house!"

"But what are you going to do!" I asked when he did not mention that he would be joining me.

"Will you just listen!" I immediately winced from the harshness in his voice. It was almost as if I had been hit. His expression softened slightly after his outburst. "You're nowhere near practiced enough to handle them. Following me will most likely get you hurt… or worse, so please, stay put."

From beneath my bangs, I gave a slightly worried expression that was unable to hide the childish curiosity within me. In reply, he glared at me, which once again caused me to wince, but I was able to nod my comprehension.

I then heard his exhalation of breath, a sign of relaxation. A hand then ruffled my hair. Startled, I looked up to see Trunks floating very close to me and wearing a somewhat gentle expression. "I'll be back shortly. Don't worry." He then pulled away and took off to the site of the blast.

I watched him fly towards the site before I stole a glance towards his house. It probably was a good idea to return there and wait for him, like he said, but I wanted to understand why he so upset and defensive. When I was sure that he was out of sight, I decided to follow.

…………

Smoke and destruction was all that I saw when I reached the scene. Several buildings had been recently demolished, but it did not seem as if it had been caused by human hands. I had seen and felt a few more blasts on the journey over, seeing as I had decided to take my time so I would not alert Trunks to my presence, which could account for the recent destruction.

I unfortunately saw and heard no one as I moved. It unnerved me, so I decided to land and stick to the ground. It felt more comfortable, and if I saw movement, I would easily be able to hide amongst all the rubble.

As I slowly walked through the empty streets, I heard a noise which caused me to duck behind a large piece of cement that had fallen from one of the surrounding buildings. I waited to see if anyone was coming, but after a few moments, relaxed.

Before I could return to the open street, another blast rocked the area, causing me to be doused with small pieces of debris shaken from my surroundings. The area was unsafe, but I was unsure if moving would be my best option. Before I could make a true decision, I heard a sinister-sounding laugh which rooted me to the spot.

"Is that the best you can do Trunks?" I heard a male voice ask. His voice was incredibly cocky and almost sounded bored. But, at the same time, he sounded like he was in the mood to have some fun, which seemed odd to me.

"Careful Juunanagou (1)," a female voice then warned, "you don't want to break him. He's the only thing left that we can really enjoy playing with, even if he's not as strong as Son Gohan was."

I was very concerned about Trunks at that point, but I was confused and curious as well. I wanted to know who was speaking, and who the two unknown people were. They sounded like they knew Trunks quite well, but that was not what had really peaked my interest. The woman had said my brother's name, but spoke of him as though he was no longer alive. I wanted to why, and I wanted to know how she knew him in the first place.

"I guess you're right, Juuhachigou (2)," the male told her. "But I'm not quite done with him today."

So the male was Juunanagou and the female Juuhachigou… That answered one of my questions, but it did not explain who they were or why they were named after numbers. In order to attempt to make sense of it, I decided to get a closer look.

I slowly crept closer to where I believed the two had been speaking as the sounds of battle began to surround me. Upon coming to the edge of a building, I caught a glimpse of someone sitting on a something (it looked like an overturned car) with his or her back turned to me. I quickly pulled back and ducked inside a large hole in the side of the building less than a meter from me.

Once inside, I made my way to a window facing the direction of the action. I was glad that the window was tinted as it would be far less likely for me to be noticed.

The person I had previously seen was still sitting on the same thing as before, looking as if he or she had not moved. As I examined the person, I became convinced that it was a woman, making her Juuhachigou. Her hair was light, probably blonde, though it was difficult to tell through the colored window. Her clothes did not really interest me, but I did noticed that on the back of her vest was a large, red-looking ribbon shape with two light R's on the inside of it.

"…The Red Ribbon Army…" I told myself as something in my mind recognized the symbol. My brother and I had once stumbled across a picture of it in a history book. That organization was evil and had tried to take over the world, until Dad had destroyed it. But that was years ago, long before my brother and I had been born. So why would this woman wear that ancient symbol? Was she somehow connected to it? As I pondered, I made a mental note to ask Trunks once we returned home.

It then occurred to me that if this woman was connected to that army, then Dad should be arriving any minute to stop her. This could be my chance to let him know that I was okay. So I waited, hoping for him to come.

A sudden yell broke the silence; it was Trunks. The sound of his voice told me that he was in pain, but I still had no idea where he was. I was answered seconds later as he fell from the sky and crashed into the asphalt of the street below him.

For a second, I believed that I was seeing a completely different person. His hair was a different color and spiky, which seemed impossible to duplicate for one with such straight hair. Yet, as I looked at the face and clothes, I realized that it was him. I was in shock.

Moments later, I was driven from my thoughts as a young man appeared from the sky and forcefully landed on Trunks' stomach with both of his feet. He immediately jumped out of the crater he had created from the attack and examined his handy work.

He had to be Juunanagou, seeing as that was what the female had called him. His hair was black and his eyes were almost almond-shaped. His eyes color was blue, like Bulma's, but the warmth that was in Bulma's was not in his. His eyes were icy and piercing. Those eyes were frightening.

"Now that wasn't even a challenge!" the young man said in a voice that was both excited and bored. He then held his hand out in front of him and a globe of chi formed in it. "I think that it's better to just put you out of your misery after all. Juuhachigou, you were right, Son Gohan was far more entertaining, but there's no way this punk will ever measure up." He then fired a large blast into the crater.

…………..

I saw nothing as the smoke cleared. Neither Juuhachigou nor Juunanagou were around, and I did not see or sense Trunks. Worried, I slowly climbed out of my hiding place, and hurried over to the crater where Trunks had fallen after double-checking to make sure I was alone.

Dad had not come. I did not understand why either. He should have been there to help, to protect Trunks!

"Trunks-nii!" I called out after reaching the edge of the crater. In the center of it, I saw him lying face-down. I immediately entered it at a run so that I could check on him. Once I reached him, I gently began shaking his shoulder. "Trunks-nii! Please wake up, Trunks-nii!"

After a few moments, he twitched and slowly began to move himself into a sitting position. After wincing in pain, he looked at me. "G-goshi-kun… I thought…. I thought I told you to go home…"

"I didn't listen," I admitted as I carefully watched him. His hair had reverted back to its normal state, which was causing me to reevaluate what I had previously witnessed. Maybe my eyes had just been playing tricks on me.

He then tried to stand, but immediately stopped after a wave of pain stopped him. "Are you alright?" I was very concerned with his state, since I had never seen him so beaten up before.

"Ngh… not really," he replied as he tried to stand again; this time, he was successful. "I'm alive though, and right now, that's all that counts…"

"Is it really?" a voice then asked us. Both of us looked up to see that both Juuhachigou and Juunanagou were floating in the sky above us.

"We knew that blast probably wasn't enough to finish you, so we decided to wait and see what happened," Juuhachigou told him. "It's a good thing we did. You would have gotten away again."

Both of them then landed at the top of the crater. "I have a question for you before we kill you, Trunks." It was Juunanagou's turn to speak. "Who's the kid? Is he Son Gohan's brat? He looks an awful lot like him."

"Goshi-kun has nothing to do with this!" Trunks shouted at them as he shoved me behind him. I understood that I stood no chance against the two people in front of me. If only one could overpower Trunks, I could only imagine what both of them could do.

"But you didn't answer the question. Is that Son Gohan's brat or not?"

When Trunks did not answer, Juuhachigou smiled. "Well, if you're not going to answer, we're just going to end this fight now. It's boring." She then began to form a ball of chi in her hand.

"I couldn't agree more," Juunanagou replied as he created one of his own.

As soon as they fired their blasts, Trunks grabbed me and with speed that seemed impossible for his current state, flew into the cover of one of the surrounding buildings. A shockwave reverberated through the area causing the ceiling above us to crack and shower us with small pieces.

He did not put me down until we entered the basement of the building. "Stay still and be quiet!" he immediately warned me. "They have a tendency to fire multiple blasts after such an attack in an attempt to make sure that their prey won't escape. It will be easier on us if we just ride it out."

I did not even have a chance to reply as another blast rocked the area. Trunks immediately grabbed me again and held me to his chest as he knelt down in a defensive position. Several more followed in quick succession causing the building to begin to crumble around us.

……………

"Are… you okay, Goshi-kun?" Trunks asked me as he sat me down once everything was over. There was rubble all around us, but the building was somehow still partially standing.

"I-I think so… but what about you?" His face was covered in scrapes and blood. I was unable to figure out how he was still moving.

"I'll be fine, eventually. We need to head back. I'm in no condition to ride out another attack if they return." He then led me, slowly, through the rubble and back to the street. From there, much to my surprise, he took to the air. I followed as soon as I recovered from the shock.

I was actually surprised that he was able to fly the entire way home. I was expecting him to fall, but he never did. I suppose that was a good thing, but it seemed so unnatural.

Bulma was waiting for us at the door when we landed in the year, and immediately rushed over to us as Trunks stumbled after his landing. After yelling at us for worrying her and getting hurt, she helped to move Trunks inside, where he was placed on a couch. I was told to freshen up as he rested.

……………

"Don't worry, Goshi-chan, you can come it," Bulma told me after I peeked into Trunks' room. It had been some time since we had returned, and he was now recovering in his room. Apparently, he was recounting to his mother the events that occurred earlier.

I carefully stepped into the room. Trunks had never allowed me in it before, so I was very cautious and stayed near the door. Knowing that I would probably not get the chance to enter it again, I stole a quick look at its entirety.

It seemed normal, with the exception that the floor was rather clean. There were several CD cases on a self that hung on the wall as well as a few posters, which I believed were of rock bands. A door was open on the one wall, showing me the contents of a rather large and disorganized closet.

"You don't have to stand," Bulma told me once she noticed that I had not moved away from the door. She then pointed to a beanbag which was sitting near a seat of drawers. "Go on. Have a seat. Trunks doesn't mind, right?"

I stole a quick look towards Trunks, who nodded, before I quickly dashed to the beanbag. I happily placed myself in it and squirmed around a bit before I found a position that made me exceedingly comfortable. After waiting a moment, I turned my attention to the conversation the two of them were having.

"…I wish that you wouldn't do this to me, Trunks. You're the only one I have left, and each time you go to fight, you nearly end up dying. How long is this going to continue before your luck runs out?" Bulma told him. She was sitting on the edge of his bed, facing him. He did not reply. Instead, he just looked away.

"Umm…" I interrupted, which made both of them look at me, "I'm sorry… but, who were those two? I don't understand why you were fighting with them, Trunks-nii…"

"There were Juunanagou and Juuhachigou, artificial humans who delight in causing destruction. They're the whole reason our world's in pieces," he replied as his blue eyes stared into mine. I immediately looked away; their color still made me uncomfortable.

"Doesn't Tou-san know about this? I'm sure he'd help you!"

Trunks just shook his head as Bulma sighed. "Goshi-chan… how can I explain this? Son-kun can't help because he's not here."

"…I don't understand. Even if he's not here, you could go get him!"

"It's not that easy. Do you remember the machine that Trunks used to take you here?" I nodded. "Well, that machine took you to a different time. You are currently twenty years in the future, which is why everything is so different."

I stared at her. It sounded too unbelievable to be true, but it did not seem like she was lying to me. Was I really in a different time? "So… Tou-san's not here because he's back in my time…?" I asked, attempting to follow her logic.

"That's the easiest way to put it." She then sighed again. "It's been about fourteen years since those two have appeared. Anyone who could have possibly stopped them is no longer with us, including Son-kun and Gohan-kun."

I did not know what to say. It was just beyond belief. "T-the future… but how? I didn't think it could b done…!" I eventually stammered, since that was the main idea that I could not comprehend.

"Didn't your Tou-san ever tell you that I'm a genius?" Bulma asked me with a slightly arrogant tone in her voice. "In your time, I haven't thought of it yet, but here, I created a machine that can traverse time. I wanted a time that would live in piece, without knowing the horrors of those machines, so I began working on a way to fix that."

"In fact, the time machine's fight test run was the day Trunks rescued you," she continued as her mind continued on its tangent. "In all honesty, I didn't think that he'd be successful because of what Gohan-kun had said of your abductor. Yet, you're here, so it must have worked."

"You knew… that I was going to be taken…?" That statement further stunned me.

Gohan-kun spoke about it quite often… he deeply regretted that neither he or your Tou-san were able to prevent it. Both of them missed you horribly."

I stared at her as she spoke. Her words were so matter-of-factly that there was no way they were invented. She had to have gotten the story from Gohan, but if he would have visited, he would have come with Dad, and I would have seen them. This meant that she knew the story prior to my arrival… so maybe it was not impossible that I was in a different time…

But there was still something that was bothering me. Was my brother safe? It sounded like I had not been rescued in this time, but in mine, I was, so did that thing go after my brother? I was worried. I just wanted to know, but I bit my tongue; Bulma had made it clear that she was not going to answer any questions I had on that topic.

"Bulma-san, what would have happened to me if I wouldn't have been rescued?" I eventually asked, since it could tell me the fate that might be in store for my brother.

"The simplest explanation is that you would never have gotten to see your Tou-san again," Trunks answered with a sullen voice.

"Y-you mean death…?" I was horrified. I would never have seen my family again… but now, it might be Gohan who was in that situation. I tried to keep my emotions under control when Trunks did not further clarify himself. I excused myself and went back into my room. As soon as I hit my bed, I began praying that my brother had not taken my place.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

As Goshi begins to understand the truth behind the reason for her stay in the future, she hopes for the safety of her brother. But with the presence of the artificial humans, will she ever be able to go back and see the truth for herself? Find out on the next episode of Dragonballz!

* * *

1 Juunanagou means number seventeen and is a shortened version of the Japanese name for Android 17. His full title is Jinzo'ningen Juunanagou, which translates to 'artificial human, number seventeen.'

2 Juuhachigou means number eighteen in Japanese. Her official title is Jinzo'ningen Juuhachigou.


	6. Revelations

Time moved quickly, and before I knew it, I had been with Bulma and Trunks for over a year. To me, very little had changed: I was still staying in the same room, who's floor was now covered in my things, Trunks was still putting me through Hell on the days we trained together, Bulma was still trying to be my makeshift mother, and the artificial humans were still on the loose.

After my first encounter with the deadly duo, Trunks attempted to go after them four separate times, while I hid in the nearby rubble. He was still no match for them, but he refused to let me help him as he believed that I was still not ready. Each time these matches occurred, he was beaten horribly, yet he was always able to escape at the last moment.

Although I was still puzzled by his determination to destroy his opponents, even though he was seemingly unable to damage them in any way, I was more puzzled by his strange transformation during each battle. As I had seen while watching my first fight, his eye and hair color changed and he seemingly got stronger as well. Yet, each time I asked him about it, he would refuse to tell me anything. It irritated me.

Even though much had remained the same, two things had definitely changed in that year though. The first was that I was beginning to believe that my father was not human. It was clear that Bulma's neighbors and the other people I encountered could not do any of the things that Trunks and I could. He had said that I received my talents from my dad, so the only logical conclusion was my abilities were only possible through a super-human source.

This knowledge made me feel separate from most people. This was made worse by the occasional person who would freak out after seeing us do something super human. I guess they assumed that since we could do things like the androids, we were ones as well. Although it was logical, it still hurt.

The second thing was that my tail had mysterious disappeared. One morning I had woken up to discover that I could not stand properly. After a few moments of reorienting myself, I realized that my tail was gone and panicked. Both Trunks and Bulma came into my room to check on me, but neither of them seemed that concerned when I told them what happened.

Although it bothered me and I had to relearn how to walk, no one would explain where it went. The topic was eventually dropped and forgotten even though I had a sinking suspicion that at least one of the two of them knew the truth.

…………

One morning, Trunks actually came and got me from my room, saying that Bulma wanted to talk to me. That was a little unusual, since Bulma rarely summoned us, so I quickly got ready and followed him down to the kitchen.

"So Goshi-chan, do you know what day it is?" she asked me as I sat down at the table and waited for breakfast.

"…Sunday…?" I knew it was a stupid answer, but I did not have a better guess.

"Close, but not quite," she explained as she placed a plate of pancakes in front of me before sitting down on the adjacent chair. "It the anniversary of when your Tou-san found out who he was."

I stared at her blankly. "I don't understand."

"I had a feeling that you wouldn't, but you need to know before you return home. You don't want Gohan-kun to make fun of you for not knowing something that became such a central point in your family's life, do you?" I shook my head in responce. "Good! Now, it all started when we were going to have a get-together on Muten Roshi-san's island…"

Bulma's story was wondrous. A Saiyan by the name of Raditz, who was my father's older brother, had come to recruit my father so that he could assist him in conquering a different planet. When my dad refused, Raditz knocked him aside and took my brother hostage, requesting Dad to kill one hundred people by the next day to ensure Gohan's safety. Dad would do no such thing, so once he caught his breath, he joined forces with Piccolo, a Namekian (which did not really mean all that much to me at the time), and went after Raditz. A fight ensued, and the victor was Piccolo. Dad had sacrificed himself during the battle so that Raditz would not escape.

I listened in a stunned silence, which was occasionally interrupted by the consumption of my breakfast. Her story seemed too incredulous to be real, but I continued to listen. If all of it was real, then I needed to know, and besides, it was a good story.

Bulma then continued with her narration. Raditz had a device on his face that relayed the details of his defeat to his two partners, who were on a distant planet. Those details included mention of the dragon balls, which are seven magic spheres that can grant any wish when gathered. As Bulma, Muten Roshi, and a man named Kuririn (1) approached the scene, Raditz explained that his companions would be arriving on earth to finish the job within a year.

Once the three of them landed and watched my father pass from the world, it was discovered that he would be receiving special training in the afterlife to prepare for the new threat. Piccolo then took my brother, who was found to be unconscious, so that he could train him during the upcoming year. Bulma, Muten Roshi, and Kuririn were then left alone to deal with the consequences, such as telling my mother what had happened. I could only imagine her response.

During the year, Kuririn and several other friends of my dad began special training in preparation of the upcoming fight, while Bulma and Muten Roshi collected the seven dragon balls and waited for a sign. Since Dad was receiving training, they did not want to bring him back too early.

A day before the two Saiyans were to arrive, Dad somehow contacted Muten Roshi from the afterlife and told him that he was to be brought back to life. It was surprising seeing as the Saiyans had arrived much earlier than what was expected.

The next morning, the Saiyans, Vegeta and Nappa, arrived. They quickly found where Piccolo and Gohan had been training and paid them a visit. When they arrived, they found that Kuririn had arrived as well. Shortly afterwards, Tenshinhan (2) and Chaozu, more friends of my father, and a man named Yamcha, arrived to face off against the two aliens.

Bulma did not go into many details after this part. This was for two reasons: the first was because most of her information had come from second-hand sources. The second was that Yamcha was her boyfriend at the time, and he had been killed during the battle. He was not the only one either: Chaozu, Tenshinhan, and Piccolo were also killed before my father could get to the battle.

Once he had arrived, Dad quickly took care of Nappa, who was then killed by Vegeta. Dad and Vegeta then went off on their own so the fight could continue. From what Bulma said, the fight between Dad and Vegeta had to have been intense as Dad had nearly broken every bone in his body by the time everything was finished. Strangely enough, Vegeta was allowed to escape, that was largely due to Dad's request to let him go. Once he was gone, Dad, Kuririn, and my brother were taken to the hospital for treatment.

While everyone was still in the hospital, the steps were taken to ensure a trip to a planet called Namek. The reason behind this trip was so they could use the dragon balls that should be there to wish those who were killed in the battle with the Saiyans back to life. This was needed since the dragon balls that had been on earth disappeared with the death of Piccolo, since his other half, Kami-sama (3), who had died with him, had created them. Since Piccolo and Kami-sama were originally from Namek, it would make sense that there would be dragon balls there as well.

"…I think that's enough for now," Bulma then said. "That's more than enough information for you to dwell on today, what do you think?"

"But, what happened on Namek?" I demanded. I had managed to get myself so interested in the story that I had forgotten to question it. Now that I had some idea what my family could be facing, I wanted to know the rest of it. It sounded a lot safer than dealing with Rildo, which was a great relief to me; even if I was not sure it was the truth. I also wanted to understand how Vegeta, the bad guy from Bulma's tale, ended up being Trunks' father. That one puzzled me to no end.

"We'll save that for another day. I think that we've had Trunks wait long enough; isn't it one of your training days?"

I looked over at him to see that he looked somewhat impatient. I guess that he wanted to get started as soon as possible today. I sighed, since I knew that there was no way I was going to get my way. I just helped Bulma clean the dishes and then followed Trunks out into the yard.

………

In the weeks that followed, I tried to imagine what happened to my family. It was nearly impossible, since I had no idea of how most of the key players looked. It made me feel alienated from them, and I began to miss everyone just that much more.

I had little time to think about it though, since Trunks had once again increased the intensity of his training. Once in a while, he would spar with me in his golden form. It was incredible! His speed and strength increased so much, that I often could do no more than stare.

That tended to irritate him. More often than not, he would chide me for not trying to fight back. I could not do anything against him, so trying to fight back was more like a joke. I had so much trouble just trying to watch his movements that I tended to forget that I could sense him, which made everything worse.

It took some time, but eventually I began to learn how to watch and dodge some of his moves. Although I was not progressing as much as he would have liked, it was progress none the same.

………..

About a month later, a blast once again shook the ground around Bulma's home. The artificial humans were in the area, and from the size of the shockwave, they had to be close. Without a second thought, both of us headed to the scene, although Trunks did warn me to stay hidden.

He had recently acquired a specialized sword that would probably be able to cut through the diamond-hard protective skin that covered the two artificial beings, and he was dying to try it out against them. He was unusually optimistic this time as well. Apparently, he really believed that all of his training would finally pay off. I still remained slightly doubtful.

Once we closed in on the area where they were having their sickening form of fun (Juunanagou was having fun running some surviving humans down with a car he had found), the two of us split up. Trunks kept to sky and hurried to the center of the maelstrom, while I landed and hurried to the scene while using the wreckage as cover.

As usual, the fight had begun once I had managed to get to the scene. Trunks had already transformed and was trying to hit Juuhachigou with his new blade, but was having little luck. From out of nowhere, Juunanagou appeared and slammed Trunks in the back, causing him to drop his weapon. He had apparently finished his game.

"So Trunks, after months of hiding, this is all you were able to come up with?" Juunanagou asked as he picked up the sword and carefully examined it. "Nice edge, but it's not going to do much unless you can hit one of us with it." He then tossed it aside and approached Trunks.

"Should we finally kill him?" Juuhachigou asked as she walked alongside the other artificial being. "I mean, he's no longer any fun, and his attempts just keep getting more pathetic."

"Ngh…" I heard Trunks' voice as he tried to get himself to stand. "…Where they holding back before…?" he asked no one as he winced and grabbed his side. He apparently in a lot of pain, and from what I had seen of his previous fights, no blow had ever done such damage before.

"Heh, you're just like Son Gohan," Juunanagou smirked as he looked at Trunks. "Your mentor was just as surprised when he realized that we had only been toying with him for years before we finally killed him."

Juuhachigou then laughed. "He kept going on about how someone would be eventually able to defeat us, even if he was gone, but the only person who can do anything is you, and you can't even surpass your master in strength. It's quite hilarious when you think about it."

"How dare you talk about Gohan-san like that!" Trunks hissed. He was clearly upset, but instead of charging the duo, like I thought he would, he stayed put and glared at them.

"Did you hear that Juunanagou?" the blonde cyborg laughed. "I think we made him mad."

"I see," Juunanagou agreed. "Well, let's not keep him waiting." The two of them then launched their attack.

Trunks was unable to move out of the way as both of them nailed him in the stomach with their fists. As he began to double over in pain, Juunanagou launched him skyward with a kick. Juuhachigou then placed herself in his path and knocked him back to the ground with nothing more than a simple palm to his face. Once he hit the ground, he then skidded into the wall of a building, causing it to crack.

"This is just far too easy," I heard Juunanagou say as he joined his partner in the air. "It needs to end now."

"I couldn't agree more." Juuhachigou then joined Juunanagou in concentrating their chi into their hands. Although it was impossible to sense the strength of the attack (for some reason it is impossible to detect the chi of these artificial humans), I could tell that Trunks was in a bad situation. If I did not do something, he was probably going to be killed, seeing as the artificial humans did not seem to be holding back this time.

Yet, what could I do? I was nowhere near as strong as Trunks was, and I had never actually exchanged blows with the two, but I had to do something!

"STOP IT!" I yelled as I swallowed my fear and charged the two of them.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………...

As Goshi bravely tries to help her mentor, she realizes that she is going against foes that are seemingly unbeatable. Will they manage to survive, or will the androids get their wish? Find out on the next exciting episode of Dragonballz!

* * *

1 Kuririn is Krillin's Japanese name, and is a play on the word for chestnut.

2 Tenshinhan is the real name of Tein. For some reason the original American version of the anime has his name being Tein Shinhan.

3 'Sama' is a suffix that is used to show the utmost respect. Since Kami actually means 'god' in Japanese, it make a lot of sense for the others to use such a term.


	7. A Call to Arms

"STOP IT!" I yelled as I swallowed my fear and charged the two of them.

As terrified as I was, I held nothing back as I nailed Juunanagou in the face with a punch. I was thrilled at first, seeing as I had managed to surprise him and land a punch, but my feelings of joy were short lived once I realized that my punch did not faze him.

"Huh? Oh, you're that twerp," Juunanagou said simply as he brushed away my hand. "I didn't know that you could fight too. So, are you ready to have some fun?" He grinned evilly at me.

The cruel excitement in his icy eyes alarmed me. I immediately pulled my hand away from him and slowly moved backwards. It was then I realized that I was in over my head, and that escape would probably be my only chance of living.

I then bumped into something that was behind me. I immediately spun around to check, and to my horror, I was right up against Juuhachigou. I had completely forgotten about her!

"Ah, are you frightened?" Juuhachigou asked me, almost kindly as she touched my face. "How touching." Without warning, she then struck me in the face with her left fist, which sent me flying downwards.

I was surprised when I did not hit the ground. I was in shock from the hit, but quickly looked around once I had recovered my senses. I was floating, upside-down, a few meters from the ground. It was then that I realized that I was being held by the ankle.

Juunanagou gave a good-natured laugh once I understood the situation and had situated myself in a position that would allow me to look up enough to see him. "Sorry about that," he told me in an almost-friendly voice. "Juuhachigou doesn't care for kids all that much." He then paused and his grin became an evil smirk. "Neither do I, for that matter." He then let go of me and nailed me in the side with one of his legs before I even had a chance to regain control over my body.

The ground came out of no where, and, within seconds, I had connected with it. The force behind the hit was too strong though, and I ended up bouncing off the ground, causing me to painfully collide with the pavement again. As soon as my body allowed me, I got up and looked up, to see where my attackers were.

Both of them were still floating in the sky above me, which did not bring me any sense of comfort. I was absolutely terrified. Trunks was right, I was no where near strong enough to assist him, and my mistake looked like it was going to take my life.

I then noticed that both of them were extending their hands. I could see the chi that was beginning to form in their palms; they were about to attack me again. I wasted no time in attempting to run. It did not help as a large blast hit the ground behind me, warping it. The upheaval of the ground, combined with the force of the blast sent me flying forward.

Once again, I managed to land on my face. It was much harder to get up that time, but I did. I then realized that I was in a bad location. I was very close to the external wall of the building, which could cause me to be boxed in if I allowed the situation to grow worse.

"So… not that it matters or anything, but **are** you related to Son Gohan?" The question caused me to jump. I spun around once I realized that Juunanagou's voice was coming from behind me. He was just standing there with his arms crossed. As I stared at him (seeing as I could do little else because I was paralyzed in fear), another grin lit his face. "Because, if you are his kid, I'm going to have all the more fun destroying you."

"Why does it matter Juunanagou?" Juuhachigou asked as she landed on the opposite side of me. "Just get it over with!"

"Because it will bother me," the male cyborg replied. He then lunged forward and grabbed me by the hair. "So, let's make a deal, kid. If you tell me, I promise to make your death rather quick; if you don't, you're going to suffer. How does that sound?"

"Nnn…" I was unable to vocalize much more due to my fear. That was it: I was going to die. All of a sudden, a noise, probably just falling rubble, distracted the cyborgs and broke my paralysis.

A split-second decision caused me to fire a low-grade chi blast at Juunanagou's face. It was enough to get him to let go of me. I then fired a blast at the ground below me in order to create a large dust cloud. "You little…!" Juuhachigou yelled as she lost me in the dust. "You shouldn't have let your curiosity get the better of you!"

"…Don't worry, he couldn't have gotten too far!" Juunanagou replied as he moved out of the way. He was right; I had managed to stuff myself into a nearby building, via a large crack. Trunks had told me that they could not sense chi, but if they decided to look, I would not be all that hard to find. I needed to move.

As quickly as I could, without making noise, I hurried through the ruined building. It felt like either of the two could be behind me at any time, causing me to be exceedingly paranoid. Any sound caused me to jump and hide behind something, fortunately, most were false alarms.

Somehow, I was able to escape from the building and found refuge in a different one that appeared to be slightly more destroyed. It seemed logical to me to choose it, seeing as I thought that the cyborgs would believe that I would choose something much more sturdy looking for a hiding place. Once inside, I hurried to the basement. Trunks had said that the cyborgs tended to target the upper parts of buildings in their attacks, which made a basement much safer to use as a safe house. As I huddled in a corner, I prayed that he was right.

Blasts rocked the area, causing debris to fall on my head. The terror that I had felt earlier was setting in once again, but that terror soon turned to panic when I realized that I had no idea what happened to Trunks. After recklessly charging the cyborgs, I had lost all tabs on the young man. I had no idea if he was okay.

Suddenly, a hand placed itself on my shoulder. I nearly screamed, but a separate hand conveniently covered my mouth before I could make such a noise. "Calm down!" a familiar voice hissed in my ear. "You're going to give us away!"

Relief slowly washed over me, and once the hand removed itself from over my mouth, I turned around and hugged the young man behind me. Trunks was a little more than surprised by my actions, but said nothing as another blast occurred.

When I pulled away from him, I realized that he was covered in blood. The cyborgs really did a number on him. "Trunks-nii, are you okay! How… or when did you manage to get in here?" I whispered to him in shock.

"I've been through worse," he replied as he ignored the second question. He then looked upwards and placed his finger over his mouth in order to tell me to be quite. After a few moments of silence, we heard talking. I grew rigid.

"Come on, Juunanagou, that kid isn't here!" I heard Juuhachigou tell her partner irritably. I could tell that she was becoming impatient, probably because they had been unable to locate the two of us.

"How do you know?" Juunanagou replied in a tone that was just as irritated. "We haven't even checked."

"We've looked in nearly every other building in the immediate area, and I highly doubt that a young kid would go into a building that looks like it will fall apart any minute."

"Just because it's unlikely doesn't mean that he hasn't decided against better judgment. I mean, he was more than a little frightened when we were playing with him. We also don't know what happened to Trunks. So there's a possibility that he's hiding here as well."

"Trunks is too good at running away. He probably left the area when that kid interrupted."

Juunanagou snorted. "Trunks is too much like Son Gohan. I doubt that he'd just leave the kid."

"I guess you're right, but I still don't think that either of them are here." Juuhachigou's voice hinted at defeat.

"I suppose not… I guess we should just head home. I mean, we've done more than enough damage today." Both of them laughed. Seconds later, the subtle sounds of footsteps died away.

Both Trunks and I sighed in relief, but that sigh was short lived as a sharp blast of energy came through the ceiling and crashed into the floor. A huge explosion resulted. The only things I remember of it is watching the edge of the explosion approach as if it was in slow motion, and that Trunks was protecting me, much like he did during my first encounter with the cyborgs.

…………..

"Oh, Goshi-chan! You're awake!" someone told me when I finally opened my eyes. I felt stiff, as if I had been in the same position for a long time. After sitting up, I found myself on a bed in a strange room. Confused, I looked at Bulma who was cheerfully sitting in a chair near my bed.

"Wh-where am I?" I eventually asked when she said nothing else.

"The hospital," she replied matter-of-factly.

That made me more confused. "Hospital…?" I felt my eyes widen as I realized that Trunks was once again missing. "Bulma-san! Do you know where Trunks-nii is! I mean… we were in a fight! And the artificial humans… they… they!"

"Calm down, Goshi-chan!" She immediately moved to a position where it would be easy for her to grab me if I tried to move. "Trunks is in the next room, and he's doing okay."

"That blast was apparently pretty severe, and he took the brunt of it," she continued without much thought. "Ah! Don't worry about it, Goshi-chan!" Bulma told me once she realized that knowing that he had gotten hurt to save me upset me. "You should be happy! He willing decided to save you. I mean, he could have been just like his tou-san, and probably not done anything more than save himself."

I stared at her. She just waved off the awkwardness. "Your family has had a lasting effect on my son, and I'm thankful for it. I don't think that he would be as caring as he is if your brother hadn't taken him under his wing." She then leaned back and sighed before she stole a look at me. "You have no idea how much I miss your tou-san and brother. They were like family to me."

"I wouldn't know how that feels," I replied in a voice that stung with sarcasm and bitterness. She had managed to dig up the remnants of my homesickness, and I was none too pleased.

Bulma winced. "You know why you can't go home yet. Besides, when Trunks finally goes to give Son-kun the medicine that will hopefully prevent this world from happening in your time, you'll be able to go home if you want."

"Medicine? What medicine? Tou-san's never been sick!"

"In this time, your dad ended up passing away due to an illness that attacked his heart. Once he left us, everything fell to pieces." She then leaned over and ruffled my hair. "Don't worry kid. When you go back home, I'm going to have Trunks give your tou-san medicine for that illness. If he takes it, he'll make it through just fine."

"Well, why couldn't he just take medicine from a doctor?"

She then began laughing hysterically. Once she recovered enough to speak, she just looked at me as if I had said the funniest thing. "I can't believe that you just said that!" She then laughed more.

"Your dad absolutely hates doctors!" she explained as she began wiping tears from her eyes. "That's the last place that he'd go to get help! He's too afraid that they'd give him a shot!" She then laughed a bit more before her expression grew serious. "Besides, in your time, there is no medicine that could save his life. That cure was only recently developed here." (1)

The door to the room suddenly opened, causing both of us to jump. It was Trunks; and he was looking more than a little ruffled. "What's wrong, Trunks? You should still be in bed!" Bulma demanded of her son.

An embarrassed blush began to appear on his face as he looked away. "I… thought something was wrong… I was able to hear your voice through the wall, Kaa-san."

"It's nice to know that you're worried about me," she told him fondly after stifling more laughter. "Although, you don't need to be embarrassed about it."

He kept his gaze lowered as he changed the topic. "It's… it's good to know that you're up, Goshi-kun. You had been out for a few days, and the doctors were beginning to get worried."

"I've been out for a few days!" I yelled. I then looked away in disgust and balled my fists. I was so weak! It drove me absolutely insane! "I-I'm sorry, Trunks-nii. I'm still just a burden on you." I told him once my spasm of anger faded into self-pity.

The bed I was on then dipped as someone sat on it. I looked over to see that Trunks was now sitting about a meter from me; that struck me as a little more than odd. It was then I noticed that there were several bandages on his face, and his normal clothes had been replaced by looser and more civilian-looking clothes (for some reason, I've never been able to consider his normal style what one would consider normal), that revealed more bandages that were located on his arms.

"Don't worry about it," he told me as a gentle smile appeared on his face. "I know that I probably wouldn't be here if you hadn't interrupted when you did. You're not a burden; the proof lies in the fact that we're both alive."

I looked away from him again. I did not believe him, and the self-pity had still not evaporated. "Goshi-chan, if it makes you feel better, your brother didn't fare much better in his first fight," Bulma told me kindly. I glanced at her from under my bangs, which caused her to laugh again.

"It's true!" she told me. "I know that I told you about the fight with the Saiyans, right? Well, I somehow forgot to mention that your brother not only cowered in fear during that fight, he had to be saved more than once."

A smile brushed my lips. "Gohan's always been a bit of a crybaby."

"See? Doesn't that bit of information make you feel better?" she asked me as I nodded. "You're not the only one, so don't let it get you down, especially if you look at the fighter that your brother will become."

"It still bothers me." I replied sharply, which caused both Bulma and Trunks to stare at me. "I mean, I've been acting like my brother, and I've been trying as hard as I possibly can to _not_ do that!"

Bulma and Trunks then began to laugh at me as my irritation grew more pronounced. "It's not funny!" I shouted at them.

………….

It took at least a week before the doctors decided to allow Trunks and I to leave, which irritated me. The whole time, they wanted me to sit still, and that is nearly impossible for me now, let alone then!

I was so glad when we were finally allowed to walk out of that place! I swear, doctors purposely make your stay unnecessarily unpleasant! To celebrate, Bulma decided that it was appropriate to tell the story of what happened on Namek.

………….

Luckily for the Briefs family, both Goshi and Trunks were able to survive their most recent run-in with the deadly mechanical duo. But will their luck continue to hold out, or will their future reveal itself to be bleak? Find out on the next episode of dragonballz!

* * *

1 Just to point out, Goku's fear of doctors, needles, and hospitals is only seen in the anime.


	8. Relapse

Time seemed to move quickly while I stayed with Trunks. The third anniversary of my arrival in this time was rapidly approaching and so was our departure for my time, so that Trunks could warn Dad about a dangerous heart virus and the androids. We would leave in just about four months, and I was excited and yet scared.

I now knew the story of what happened on Namek, and that we would arrive on the day that Freeza (1) would come to earth to take revenge against my dad. I also knew that during that fight, Dad had become a Super Saiyan, which was the same thing as when Trunks' hair turned blonde. The fear of a Saiyan achieving that state was actually why Freeza had killed the rest of the Saiyans, so I thought it was somewhat fitting that he would be beaten by one.

The concept of seeing my dad with his new strength was definitely exciting. It had been so long since I had seen him. Yet, that was also cause for worry. Would he and my brother recognize me? Would he still be the same person? So many different questions just kept coming into my head.

Trunks was also starting to get worried. While he was speaking to my dad, he was going to ask if he could continue to train me. I was pretty sure that my dad would agree, but there was still that small chance that Dad would say no.

Because there was this chance, Trunks was going to waste absolutely no time in attempting to beat into me any further information into my brain. Usually, I don't exactly mind training, but there is a line between normal training and what he was doing to me. I mean, he would start our days of training by attempting to break down my door in order to scare me awake!

What made matters worse was that the artificial humans had begun attacking again. Their cruel games seemed like they had taken on a more sinister tone, so the number of casualties had risen.

It was painful, to say the least. These were people that we were supposed to protect, but there was little we could do. Most of the time, the artificial humans had finished the majority of their mayhem by the time we were able to locate them. There were more than a few days where I believed that there was no further chance for our goals to become reality.

Even Trunks was beginning to doubt himself. With every one of our defeats, he seemed to go further into despair. More than once, I even heard him question the reason for him to go back to the past.

I somewhat understood why. I mean, if we were not able to do anything against the androids in this time, would it actually be possible to change the past so that these creatures could actually be defeated? Even I've wondered about this, even though I'm supposedly able to see the future.

Although, it was this doubt that almost tore us apart.

………

It was about a month before we were to head back to my time. I was helping Bulma-san due some touch-up work on the time machine, when Trunks walked in the door carrying a large box of supplies.

"Kaa-san, I'm home," he said with a slight grin. "I got us a lot of good food today." He then looked at me. "Though, with the way that Goshi-kun eats… I doubt that this will last us a week."

"Well, I'm sorry that I take after my Tou-san!" I hissed at him. It always irritated me if he decided to pick on me for having a large appetite. Sure I probably ate a bit more than most other kids my age, but I couldn't help it. I was hungry and still growing! Besides, there was no way that I ate nearly as much as my dad did!

"Hey!" Bulma seemed to have taken absolutely no notice of her son teasing me again. "I've finally built up enough power for a round trip in the time machine!"

"Really?" Trunks asked her.

"Yep. Though I can't believe how long it's taken. That hole took a while to fix."

"…I think I'm strong enough to beat the androids now." His voice was sullen, but there was more than a little bit of force behind it. "We don't need to study them in the past!"

"You're just saying that so that you don't have to take Goshi-chan back home!" Both Trunks (who seemed to blush slightly) and I just stared at her for a second after she said that.

"You've… you've got to be kidding! Why would I want her to stay here!"

His words felt like a slap in the face. "…So you just want me to go home…? What happened to asking Tou-san if you could continue to train me!"

"That's not what I meant, Goshi-kun!"

"Than what did you mean!"

"Enough," Bulma warned us. She never did care for it when the two of us fought with each other. "Trunks, I was just joking with you, seeing as the two of you have become nearly inseparable, but this trip to the past isn't that simple. Sure, you're strong. But have you forgotten that they killed Gohan-kun three years ago (2)? Do you really think you're any stronger than he was then?"

"I can beat them now, Kaa-san! I know I can!" he almost yelled at her. I guess that it should be noted that he rarely yells at her, let alone anyone else who is not me.

I was about to yell, "If that's the case, then why haven't you done that already!" at him, but I was interrupted by the radio.

"**We interrupt this broadcast for a report on the androids. They are now attacking 300km south of West City…"** a male announcer told us.

"…They're close…" Trunks said in an almost stunned voice, which interrupted the rest of the broadcast. He then began to walk towards the door.

Bulma watched him with weary eyes. "H-hey! Trunks – you're not -"

"I'll get them!" he called out as he began to run. "I promise you!"

His mother tried to chase after him. "Trunks, no! Stop!" She had barely gone more than a few feet when he was out the door and out of sight. When that hit her, she stopped and turned to me. "GO. FLY. FOLLOW HIM, AND MAKE HIM COME BACK!" she yelled at me.

I just glared at her before I shrugged and looked over at the time machine. "What are you waiting for!" she yelled after realizing that I was not moving. "GO GET HIM!"

"WHY!" I snapped at her. "He thinks he can do what he can't, and he sure doesn't want my help while he goes on his suicide mission!"

"Goshi!" Her voice was full of reprimand when she said my name, which caused me to wince slightly. "How dare you say that! He risked his life to keep you alive, and you're just going to let him get killed!"

"You heard your son! He doesn't want me here, and it doesn't seem like he wants to help Tou-san… so tell me why, why should I stop him?" Tears began to roll down my cheeks. I was so confused and angry about the situation. Trunks was like my older brother, and I had thought that he felt similarly towards me, but his words made me think otherwise.

Did he still hate me? Or did he think that I was just a nuisance, who could not go home soon enough? But, if that was the case, why would he pretend that he was proud of my progress. Nothing added up, which left me bewildered and hesitant.

It was then that I noticed that Bulma had moved so that she was standing immediately in front of me. She was also bent over so that she was able to look me almost directly in the eyes. "I'll tell you why you should go!" she snapped at me. "He's your teacher! You should respect him enough to at least try to make sure that he doesn't end up dead! Besides, who's going to get you back to your own time if he's no longer around! Now go!"

I did not say anything else. Instead, I just hurried out of the building and took off into the sky. "I never knew that Bulma could be so scary…" I told the sky. "But should I really go after him…?" I thought about it for a second before I answered myself. "I'll probably be upset later on if I don't, even if he is a jerk."

With that, I went to go find him.

……….

"This doesn't look good…" I told myself as I flew over the area where the artificial humans were supposed to be attacking. There was rubble and craters everywhere as well as large dark splotches which were probably bloodstains.

"Trunks-nii… where are you!" His chi had all but disappeared, which was concerning as I was able to clearly feel him shortly before I had come into the area. I was really hoping that his missing chi did not mean that the worst had happened.

A strong explosion then caught my attention as I had to readjust my flying so that I was able to stay in the air. Through the sound of the wind, breaking buildings, and the explosion itself, I was able to hear voices. Two of them were laughing, while the other was yelling in pain.

"They… they found him!" I needed to go find Trunks, but there was no way that I could even get near the blast site until most of the disturbance dissipated. "…I just hope that it won't be too late."

It seemed to take forever, but once the turbulence died down and I was able to fly over to where the blast had been detonated. The ground was scorched and there was barely any remnant of the buildings that once stood in the area. As I touched down, I looked around to see if there was any sign of life.

I was probably being careless, seeing as I took no interest in attempting to keep myself hidden, but that did not really matter to me. All of my anger had vanished and was replaced by fear by this point. I was really praying that my fears were not true.

"Trunks-nii!" I shouted as I looked around. There was no answer. "TRUNKS-NII!"

I continued to call out while I walked around the decimated area. Other than my calls that were echoing around the area and the faint shifting of rubble, I heard nothing. There seemed to be no other life in the area.

I was about to give up hope when I heard a slightly different noise that was coming from a nearby mound of rubble. Worried, I hurried over to it (it never even occurred to me that there was a chance that the androids were making the noise).

As I moved, I watched as a person tried to pull themselves from the mess. He was clearly hurt, but alive. My panic immediately receded once I realized that the person was Trunks.

"Trunks-nii!" I called as I rushed to his side. He barely had a chance to look at me before I began attempting to help him out of the debris.

"G-Goshi-kun… I didn't think y-you were going to come…" His words were quiet and his breathing sounded haggard.

"…I didn't want to…" I admitted as I continued my work, "but Bulma-san was about to murder me if I didn't."

He laughed weakly before he motioned for me to get out of the way. "It's okay, Goshi-kun… I can get out on my own." I watched warily as he did so, but as soon as he was released from the mound, he collapsed.

I attempted to grab him before he hit the ground. It did not work as I had planned, seeing as he was still a bit taller than me, but I did manage to prevent him from planting his face in the ground. "Are you okay?" I asked in a hushed but worried voice.

"I've been through worse." I was going to glare at him since he sounded like he was trying to make it funny, but anger turned once again to concern as I realized that he really needed help. He was more than just a mess.

"They did a number on you this time… Are you okay to fly?" I asked cautiously.

"…I'm not too sure…"

"Great! Just great," I yelled in a sarcastic manner. "I get to carry you to a hospital. Since when did I become your personal ambulance?" He just laughed at me before we took off.

……..

Trunks was in pretty bad shape. After being taken into the hospital and cleaned up, he slept for about four days straight, which is unusual for him. Then, if he would wake up for a brief moment during that time, he really would not say anything to anyone. He just looked like he was thinking about something before he fell back asleep. The whole time, Bulma and I just kept exchanging worried glances.

On the fifth day, our worries evaporated. "Kaa-san…" Trunks said which startled both of us.

"Yes?" she asked him sweetly.

"You were right…" His voice sounded like it was full of apology. "The androids were still more powerful… I don't know how I'm still alive…"

"You're lucky, that's how. Just like me." She then looked over at me. "Although, having Goshi-chan around hasn't hurt." I blushed slightly.

"When I get better, I'll use the time machine and see if it is possible to change this future."

"First you'll go twenty years back (3), and give Son-kun his medicine." Bulma then looked upwards for a second. "Everything starts there. I don't think the world would've turned out this way if he hadn't died…"

"Was he that powerful?" Trunks asked her in a slightly awed voice.

"Yeah, he was… but that's not all. He was the kind of guy who made you believe that he could make things right, no matter how terrible the situation seemed…"

"Uh-huh!" I added in a knowing way. "Tou-san's the only reason that we believed that Freeza could actually be beaten! I mean, after he stopped Vegeta-san… it seemed like all hope was lost, but that was before Tou-san recovered and walked right into the battle!" I was surprised by my own words. It had been some time since I had spoken about my dad in such a way.

Trunks just thought about what we had said a little more before he spoke again. "I can't wait to see _my_ Tou-san."

Bulma and I exchanged looked before she answered. "…Don't get our hopes up too high."

……….

When it was finally time for us to head back to my time, I could not help but feel nervous. I mean, this could be the last time that I see Bulma or this time. I loved my family, but this world had become a part of me as well. I just could not see leaving it at that point.

"Here's the medicine," Bulma said as she handed her son a small glass bottle.

"Okay, you be careful, Kaa-san," he replied in a caring sort of voice.

"I'm counting on you!" She then looked at me and knelt down to give me a hug. "I hope that this won't be the last time I see you, Goshi-chan. If it is, I hope that I did a good enough job of being your substitute mother…"

"You did fine… or what I perceive as fine…" I said while wishing that she would let go of me. I have never exactly cared for hugs. "Bye, Bulma-san. You'll see; I'll come back!"

"I hope…"

"Well, we're off," Trunks said as he did not want the farewells to go on for any longer. "I… we… we'll be back soon!" He told her as I gave him a rather determined look. Sure, I wanted to see my dad and brother, but that did not mean that I wanted to go home, and I think that he picked up on that."

Trunks then helped me into the time machine before he entered himself. "Are you ready to go?" he asked me in a somewhat excited voice.

"Yep! Full speed ahead!" I replied in a voice that was as childish as I could muster.

He laughed at me as he began to press a few buttons. "Well then, here we go."

Within a second, the scene in front of us vanished as we began our journey back to my time. While we traveled, something crossed my mind. "Um, Trunks-nii, while we're in my time… what should I call you, just in case…?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, let's say that for some reason, you'll end up meeting everyone, not just Tou-san… if that happens, you don't want me to call you by your name, right?"

"I guess… but I don't see why that would happen."

"But what if it does?" I pressed.

His expression became slightly troubled. "I don't know… what would you call me?"

I fidgeted for a second before I replied. "Um… well… since you're from the future… Mirai-kun…"

He gave me a strange look before he replied. "You do realize that's a girl's name, right?"

"…It is…?" Uh oh, he was getting irritated.

He glared at me before letting the conversation drop, for the moment. For the rest of the trip we would keep coming back to it, and turn it into another excuse for us to tease each other.

…………..

As Trunks and Goshi head back to the past, they wonder if the plan that has been set out for them will work. Can the future they know chance? And if it does, will it be for better or for worse? Tune in to the next exciting episode of dragonballz to find out!

* * *

1 Freeza = Frieza in the manga

2 Mirai no Trunks is fourteen when Gohan is killed… and I guess that I should point this out. The History of Trunks is an actual chapter in dragonball. It appears in book 17 of dbz, which is the 33rd book of the dragonball series.

3 The manga actually states that he is to go 17 years back, but since he is 17 at this point and he says that he's from twenty years in the future when he speaks to Goku, this has to be a typo.


	9. Home Coming

It was a strange feeling to know that I was on earth in my own time. Everything was the same and yet, everything was so different. There was no screaming, no major destruction, and it seemed like there were people everywhere! There were so many of them!

"Trunks-nii… I can't believe how _alive_ everything feels. It's so different…" I told him as we traveled from where the time machine landed in a grassy field to where we were going to meet my father.

He chuckled. "I'm surprised as well," he then motioned to the city we were flying over. "I'm pretty sure that I've never seen so many people in one place. Just seeing how everything once was… makes me want to protect it that much more. This world should never have to see what's in store for it."

"That's why we're here!" My voice was full of cheer. Not only was I going to see my father and brother, but I was doing something (although indirectly) that could change the future of my time for the better. It made me unusually happy to think about it.

Trunks seemed to pick up on my good mood and was about to comment on it when we sensed two enormous chi heading towards the earth. "That chi…! It's huge!" I stated almost immediately. Unless you count Trunks, I had never felt anything that strong. The androids do not emit chi, so this really was a first.

"I'll bet that's Freeza…" he stated cautiously. "But… who or what's with him?"

I shook my head. "I don't have a clue. But the other person's just as strong… Trunks-nii…?" I then asked as I realized that he was concentrating his chi. He then took off towards where it seemed like Freeza's chi was heading. "HEY! WAIT UP!" I then flew after him.

…

"When is Son-san getting here?" Trunks demanded of me after what seemed like the hundredth time. After I had managed to catch up with him, he led me to a rocky location where we took cover as we waited for my father to appear so that he could take care of Freeza, like he did in Trunks' time.

In the half hour that we were waiting, there was no sign of my father. It was really getting on Trunks' nerves, which, in turn, was getting on mine.

"For the last time, I have no idea! Besides, how would I know? I haven't seen him in years?" I yelled at him. I then sighed slightly. "If it's okay with you, I'm going to go explore… I thought that I sensed someone arrive…"

"Fine…" he replied without looking at me. I was rather surprised at the answer. He had warned me earlier to not wonder off, that it seemed very unlikely that he would let me go off on my own. Therefore, I guessed that he had not been listening.

I smile appeared on my face. Since he _did_ say that it was okay, I was going to take the opportunity to go exploring. With one final look at Trunks to make sure that he was not going to ask what I was doing (he was preoccupied with staring over the ridge what would be the landing place for Freeza's ship), I bounded over the nearby rocks.

As I moved, I felt a few other people arrive in a location that was rather nearby. Since I was curious and one of them felt familiar, I decided to go take a look. I made sure to suppress my chi as I approached them because I really did not want to be attacked right before Freeza was going to arrive.

When I reached the location where the people had gathered, I stopped my advance and hid behind a large rock so that I could observe them. Several men (one was green), a woman (who I was pretty sure was Bulma), a small person who looked like a doll, and a floating cat were waiting there. Apparently, they knew that Freeza was coming.

My thoughts were interrupted when I noticed that two more chis were approaching the location. I looked up to see my brother and a bald person getting ready to land amongst the others. "HEY YOU GUYS!" the bald guy announced as he and Gohan touched down.

"Then Goku's still not back…!" one of the unknown men noted as Bulma waved at them.

Gohan shook his head as Bulma laughed. Everyone looked at her. "Don't worry about it! Son-kun will appear out of nowhere and save the day like he always does."

"And if he doesn't?" I asked aloud from my hiding place. I immediately covered my mouth and attempted to get even more out of sight. I had been warned not to interact with anyone else, and if Trunks found out, he was going to kill me.

There were a few moments of silence as they tried to find the source of my voice. Eventually, one of them attempted to just write it off, but an angry sounding man had quickly cut him off and began to approach where I was.

I was thinking about what I was supposed to do if I was discovered when another man shouted, "THEY'RE HERE!" That caused everyone, including me, to look up to see a large ship approaching our location. Before anyone could pull themselves away from the sight of the ship, I decided that it would be an excellent time to head back to where Trunks was hiding. So within a second, I began running back through the rocks.

By the time that I returned to where Trunks was hiding, Freeza's ship had landed. Although, when I got there, instead of finding Trunks, I found nothing. Confused as to where he could have gone, I began looking around the nearby area.

It was then that I felt his chi increase. I immediately sighed and rolled my eyes; he had gone to fight Freeza without waiting for my dad. "Well, I guess we're meeting everyone after this," I told the sky. I then moved to a different vantage point so that I could watch the fight more clearly.

When I got to my new vantage point, I saw that Trunks had already killed several people, who assumed were soldiers, and that a creature that had half of its body mechanized seemed to be shaken by something. I assumed that this creature was the notorious Freeza.

Then Trunks' chi began to rise at an unprecedented rate, which caused me to snicker. He was about to transform. Freeza looked terrified as Trunks became a Super Saiyan, which caused me to feel some sort of satisfaction. "You should be scared Freeza," I told no one in particular. "Trunks-nii won't let you live like Tou-san did."

Once Trunks was done transforming, Freeza fired a blast at him. He dodged and moved to a cliff that was overlooking Freeza and his ship. After moving his arms in a certain way, he placed his hands outstretched with his pointer fingers and thumbs touching. "**FREEZA!**" He then yelled before he fired a large blast at the tyrant and the other person who was standing nearby him.

The two of them dodged the blast. It turned out to be a mistake as Trunks appeared above Freeza with his sword in hand and brought it down, slicing him in half. He then sliced Freeza several more times so that he was in pieces before he incinerated them with a blast.

Trunks then placed his sword in his sheath and landed on a cliff. The other person followed. It was then I noted two separate things. The first was that this person looked somewhat similar to Freeza, and the second was that my brother and all the others had taken to the sky.

I then turned my attention back towards Trunks. He had taken his sword back out of its sheath and had handed it to the Freeza-look-alike. It then attacked Trunks with his own sword, but Trunks was unfazed as he caught the blade in his hand. He then placed his hand on its chest and blasted it, causing it to be slammed against another cliff face.

Trunks then blasted it again which completely destroyed it, and then he destroyed the ship with another blast. After putting his sword away, he powered down and relaxed slightly. He then glanced over at the warriors who were watching him. "I'M GOING TO GO GREET SON GOKU-SAN NOW!" he told them. "WON'T YOU JOIN ME?"

They began to talk amongst themselves in wonder as they considered his words. He really did not seem to care as he gave them a moment before he spoke again. "HE'LL BE RIGHT OVER THERE." He then took off from the ledge and began flying to a nearby location. The others reluctantly followed, and so did I, in an unseen fashion.

Once Trunks landed, he took a small container from the pocket of his jacket and opened it. I knew from experience that this was the thing in which he kept his hoi-poi capsules. He then brought out a mini refrigerator, opened it, and grabbed a drink. "We still have almost three hours till Son Goku-san gets here," he told them in a calm and friendly tone. "I brought a lot of drinks. Please, help yourself."

Gohan and Bulma were the first to move forward. The bald guy followed a few seconds later. As Bulma began to sip her drink, she and Trunks exchanged a quick look. "…Have we met before?" she asked him as he tried to hide the fact that he recognized her.

"Huh? …errr… no…" His reply was incredibly awkward.

It was then Gohan's turn to ask a question. "How do you know my Tou-san?"

"I've only heard about him. Never been privileged to meet him." This answer was much more convincing, probably because it was true.

"…Then… how do you know that he's going to get here in three hours?" the bald guy was definitely confused by Trunks' words. I sympathized, seeing as this reminded me of my first talk with Bulma in the future.

"Well…" Trunks almost seemed like he was trying to figure out how to explain things. He must have failed as he said, "I'm sorry. I can't tell you…"

A short man with spiky hair growled in irritation. "What do you mean, you can't tell us? Who the hell **are** you? How did you get so much power?" His statement told me that he was the owner of the angry voice from earlier.

"I'm sorry… I can't tell you that either…"

There was a small pause before Gohan asked him another question. "Um… when you defeated Freeza… you were a Super Saiyan… weren't you?"

"Well… yes, I was…"

"Lies!" the angry man hissed. "The only Saiyans left are the three of us – me, Kakarrot - who they call Son Goku here – and Kakarrot's half-breed whelp! You can't be a Saiyan!" That surprised me. This guy was a Saiyan too? Then, would that make him Trunks' father?

Trunks did not answer, but Gohan did. "B-but… we saw him turn into a Super Saiyan and beat Freeza…"

The angry man made another irritated noise. "…Don't you know… all Saiyans have black hair? (1)"

Bulma then noticed something. "Huh? Say… isn't that the Capsule Corp. logo? Are you one of our employees?"

I had to stifle a laugh. Leave it to Trunks to attempt to be conspicuous but fail because he is wearing the logo of his family's company. "…Not really…" was his reply to that answer, which made everything worse.

"Is that a secret too? Can't you even tell us your name? Or your age?"

"I can't tell you my name… but I'm seventeen years old…" (2)

"Why can't you tell us your name…?" one of the unknown men asked.

"Yeah…" the other unknown one agreed. "There's no reason to hide it…"

"Okay, okay!" Bulma then said in a somewhat protective voice. "Let's quit asking questions. The guy's obviously uncomfortable… and he did save the earth, right?" The others murmured in agreement.

"It looks like you're having a hard time," I mentioned to my teacher, which caused everyone to stare at me in surprise.

He eyed me carefully. "And where were you?"

I grinned, in much the same way Dad did. "I went exploring. I've never seen a ship that big before."

"Didn't I tell you not to go anywhere?" He was definitely getting irritated with me.

"But I asked… and you said it was okay…"

"…There's another one?" one of the men asked, which interrupted our argument.

My simple reply was "Hi!"

"So, are you able to tell us your name, or are you sworn to secrecy too?" a different man asked me. I looked at Trunks, who shook his head. That puzzled me, but I explained that I was could not say anything. That caused some of them to lose interest in me. But before I the questions stopped, however, Bulma did ask if he was my older brother. I explained patiently that he was my teacher, which surprised her.

…..

After a little more discussion, I was introduced to the people that I did not know from before. Tenshinhan was a bald man (he might have shaved his head, I never asked him though) with three eyes and a serious expression. Chaozu was his companion and the one who looked like a doll from earlier. Yamcha was the other man that I did not recognize. His face was scarred in two different areas, and his hair was of a shorter cut and black. The floating cat's name was Pu'ar. She was apparently view herself as an attendant to Yamcha. Piccolo was the green man, and Vegeta was the man with the angry voice.

I then wanted to take a nap since there was time to kill and time traveling always seemed to exhaust me, but my brother had other plans. It did not seem like he had recognized me, but he did decide to challenge me to a sparring match, probably because we very close in age. I looked over at Trunks before I gave him an answer.

"Go ahead," he told me. He then chuckled and looked at my brother. "Be careful. He's a lot stronger than he looks."

I sighed and went along with it. I had absolutely no desire to fight my brother at this point in time, but I also had no desire to be called a coward. So, to nail two birds with one stone, I decided that I was not going to hold back on my brother so I could get it over with.

I was rather proud of myself when I overwhelmed my brother within twenty minutes, much to the surprise to those who were watching. Satisfied, I decided to go over to the rock where Trunks was sitting. After sitting on the rock, I decided to lean against his back and finally take my nap.

…

Somebody was poking me. "Go away…" I said sleepily as I attempted to brush the irritant away. The poking continued, and this time I adjusted myself so that I could get who or whatever it was to stop. That ended up being a mistake because I ended up falling off of something and landing face first in the ground.

"Oww!" I hissed as I sat up, finally awake.

"Sorry…" Trunks told me in a very low voice. It sounded like he was trying to stifle a laugh. "I was trying to wake you up before you fell off…" He then looked upwards. "You Tou-san… is about to land… Don't you want to watch?"

"Of course!" I said almost immediately as I stood up. I then looked skyward as well. I could feel his chi, almost immediately. I smiled. It felt incredibly good to know that he was actually coming home.

…..

As everyone waits for Son Goku to land, a feeling of relief washes over his family and friends. When he lands, will Trunks be able to give him both the message and the medicine? And will this be the last time that Goshi gets to spend with her teacher? Find out next time, on dragonballz!

* * *

1 Yep! You all heard it from the prince himself! All pure blooded Saiyans have black hair. No, I did not make that up. It really is in the manga and it is even mentioned in the Japanese version of the anime.

2 See my profile if you have any questions on his age, because it is different from what the American anime stated.


	10. Future Warning

"H-he's right…!" Tenshinhan stuttered as he noticed Dad's chi as well. "I feel it! I feel a **chi**…!"

"S-something **is** coming…!" Yamcha reiterated.

Bulma just stared at the sky since she was unable to sense chi. "Then he was right about the time **and** place?" she asked in complete awe.

"It's Tou-san!" Gohan cried out happily. "It's Tou-san's **chi**!"

Only seconds later, Dad's ship became visible. It moved at a tremendous pace as it raced towards a nearby plot of land. A huge blast rocked the area once it hit, causing a large dust cloud to wash over us. "**OVER THERE**!" someone yelled as everyone raced towards the crater the ship had made.

I noticed as soon as I reached the crater, that the ship that Dad was in was rather small and completely spherical. It caught me off guard. I assumed that he was returning in the ship he had used to travel to Namek.

Then, when the dust was just about cleared, the door on the ship opened, causing everyone to hold their breath for a second. It seemed like forever before the person inside stepped out of it. Once he climbed out, everyone began to cheer. Even after not seeing him for years, I immediately recognized him as my father.

"Huh? Why are you guys all here…?" he asked as he stared at us for a second. He then floated up to the top of the crater. "How'd you know I was coming?"

It was about then that I noticed that he was not wearing his traditional gi. Instead, he was wearing something somewhat similar with long sleeves and a collar like the one Gohan wore on his gi. There was also armor covering his chest, although it looked more like an accent than something that would actually give any protection.

"Him!" Bulma said as she motioned to Trunks. "He told us you were going to be here!"

"You know him, don't you Tou-san?" Gohan asked in an accusing voice.

"…? Who **is** he?" Tou-san then touched down on the ground. That caught everyone but me and Trunks off guard.

Bulma just stared at him in shock for a second. "You mean… you **don't** know this kid?"

"Nope. Should I?"

"B-but he **knew** that you were going to arrive at **this** spot at **this** moment!"

"Well, **Freeza** spotted my spaceship, so **he** knew when I'd probably get to earth…" Dad explained as if that answered the question. He then got sidetracked again. "So who defeated Freeza, anyway? That was **some** chi. Was it you, Piccolo? Or Vegeta?"

Piccolo was impassive when he answered. "**He** did it. Instantly. He became a **Super Saiyan**… like you."

"A Super Saiyan…?" Dad was clearly shocked, but he recovered almost immediately. "That's incredible! And you're so **young** too! I didn't even know there **were** Saiyans besides us!" He seemed to radiate with excitement.

"There aren't!" Vegeta snapped. "It's impossible! There can be no Saiyans but us!"

"Yeah…?" Dad's voice seemed to dismiss Vegeta's words. "Well, whatever. He was sure a super **something**, huh?"

"What do you mean 'whatever'?" Bulma chided.

"Actually… Son Goku-san, sir… can we talk…?" Trunks asked Dad as he motioned to a different location. A slight hint of nervousness could be heard in his voice.

"You can't say it in front of **us**-?" Yamcha sounded a bit offended.

"Sorry, guys. Be right back." Dad told everyone as he and Trunks began to walk off.

"But... !" I did not expect to be left behind. I pretty much knew what Trunks was going to tell Dad, and he knew that I wanted to be there when he asked Dad if he could continue to train me, so it made no sense to me for him to not take me with him.

He gave me a searching look, before he answered me. "Don't worry. I promise that you be the first to know what happens." Dad gave me a strange look, almost as if this was the first time that he had noticed me. It only lasted a moment before he and Trrunks then began their walk to the other side of the crater.

"What did that mean?" Gohan demanded of me after they were out of earshot.

I sighed as I continued to watch my dad and mentor. "Today, I find out if I'm coming home or not…"

"I don't understand…You sound like that's a bad thing," Bulma noted. "But why would Son-kun be involved?"

"I cannot answer your last question..." I told her. " But I can explain the first thing. I've gotten so used to being away from home and being trained by him that I'm terrified by what the answer to the question will be. I want to go home… but I want to continue to be trained by him as well…"

"How can you say that?" Gohan demanded of me. He was clearly upset by my words, and I was not prepared for it. "How can you think about not coming back home? Isn't your family worried?"

I frowned. I had not been expecting my brother to get so upset. He was definitely speaking from experience, and I did not have the heart to just come out and say that I was his sister. He had been suffering for some time, most likely because of me. Although I was so glad to see that he was alright, I had no desire to hurt him. I was just not compelled to go home. Maybe it was because I was so caught up in Trunks' struggle to free his own time.

….

"I wonder what they're talking about…" Yamcha mentioned Dad and Trunks had been gone for a while. Sure, we could see them across the crater, but there was no way that we could hear them.

A few times, I had been asked what the discussion centered around, but I refused to say anything. It was not my place to expose the secrets of a future to which I did not belong, so they were going to have to wait for the information.

It was not even a second later, when everyone who could sense chi noticed a change in Dad's. It was skyrocketing! Then, he transformed and became a Super Saiyan.

"Wh-what happened to Son-kun…?" Bulma stammered. She seemed very concerned. I mean, it is not very often that someone you know turns blonde in an instant and begins to glow.

"He became… a Super Saiyan…" Gohan told her. He seemed just as taken back though, probably because the last time he had seen this transformation was a year ago.

"Super… Saiyan…?" Tenshinhan asked in an astounded voice.

"What a huge _chi_…!" Yamcha was just as taken back as Tenshinhan. "And he's not even fighting…!"

I then heard Vegeta growl. "…No wonder he could beat Freeza…" (1)

Just as everyone was beginning to grow accustom to Dad's transformation, Trunks transformed as well. "Th-the kid…" Tenshinhan stammered. "Did it **too**…?"

"What are they going to **do**…?" Yamcha faintly asked as the powers of the two super Saiyans in front of him began to overwhelm him.

We then watched as Trunks unsheathed his sword and stopped it only a few centimeters from Dad's face. When Dad seemingly did not react, Trunks said something to him before he attacked again. This time, Dad used his finger to deflect all of the blows.

After a breathtaking moment, the match was over. Trunks backed away, tossed his sword in the air, powered down, and then tilted slightly to allow for his sword to fall into its sheath. Dad relaxed only a few seconds afterwards.

"D-did you see that...?" Tenshinhan asked in complete amazement. He was not the only one who was shocked by the simple display.

"Yeah... but I don't believe it..." Yamcha's words were rather faint.

"...So **that**... is a Super Saiyan..." I immediately noticed that Vegeta's words sounded as if they were spoken through his teeth. I looked over to check, and I realized that he looked as if he had been overwhelmed by something.

"A-and you actually **train** with that guy...?" Kuririn asked me. He too was stunned by what he had just witnessed.

I crossed my arms and tilted my head before I answered. "I really don't see what the big deal is... Sure, he's a Super Saiyan, but he needs to be tough... that's just how it is. As I am now, I feel like I'm just a liability to him... but..." I paused before I continued. "...he hasn't given up hope on me... and the chances of survival always increase when there is more than one person fighting an impossible battle..."

"What... what do you mean...?"

Oops, I should not have said that. Everyone seemed to turn their attention to me, which made me uncomfortable since I was now forced to give some sort of answer. "There are things that are stronger than a Super Saiyan... and that's why he's here... you'll probably hear most of the story later... but I can tell you that you should take his words seriously. You don't want to see what I have..."

There was a pause before Yamcha started laughing at me. "I can't believe how convincing you were when you said that!" His voice was full of mirth. "Come on guys! There's no way that he could be serious! After seeing those two in action, there's no way that anything could stand up to them!"

"I don't care if you don't believe me," I told him as frigidly as I could, "but I **don't** lie." I said nothing else as I looked over towards my dad.

Judging from his reaction at the time, I guessed that he had just gotten over learning who one of Trunks' parents was. They still had a lot to discuss before they got to what I wanted to hear. I sighed audibly. I wanted to know if I was staying with Trunks or not and the suspense was killing me! Besides, I wanted people to stop asking me questions about Trunks. They were going to find out anyways... probably... so why did they have to keep bothering me!

…..

"How long are they going to keep talking? I'm getting angry..." Vegeta demanded after some time. The only interesting things that had occurred during that time period was that Trunks gave Dad something, probably his medicine, and that Dad freaked out over something.

"He looked really shaken up for some reason," Bulma noted as she ignored Vegeta.

We then watched as the two of them looked back towards us, which Yamcha and Pu'ar commented upon. But their look was brief, and they soon began talking again.

My nerves were just about shot when I finally heard Trunks' voice. I looked up to see Trunks beckoning me, so I knew that it was decision making time. I took a big breath to see if I could calm myself before I began to move forward.

"Why is he calling you?" Gohan asked me in an irritated tone.

It took everything I had not to roll my eyes at him. "You sure don't trust him, huh? Anyways... they're going to decide who's going to continue to train me." Before he could ask me another question, I quickly flew over the crater and joined my dad and Trunks.

"You know... Gohan doesn't seem to like you very much..." I pointed out to Trunks before he could say something to me. He just sighed and shook his head.

"So, Goshi," Dad said in an attempt to grab my attention, which it did. "Trunks here says that he wishes to continue training you." I was surprised by his look. He was really looking at me, as if he was trying to figure out if I was really his daughter.

"I know..." I highly doubt that he knew the anticipation that I was feeling at that point.

"Well, do you want him to continue training you?" I was absolutely surprised by the question. There was no harshness in Dad's voice, just honest curiosity plus a little bit of fatherly worry. Did this mean that I was going to make the decision myself?

"..." I opened my mouth to try to reply, but nothing came out. I was so confused; what did I actually want to do? At first, I believed that I was leaning more towards staying with Trunks, but now, I was not as sure.

On one hand, I would finally be able to go home and be with the family that I had missed so much over the past three years. Dad would finally be able to train me, there would be Mother's home cooking, and there would be no androids (at least at this point). But there was still the issue of Rildo, whose thought still gave me chills. Was it possible that he was still a threat to us?

Then, on the other hand, if I stayed with Trunks, I was going to have to deal with the horrors created by the androids and Bulma's cooking (no matter what she tried, she was nowhere near as good of a cook as Mother). But if I left him, would I be able to see him again? He was as much a part of my family as my dad or brother, and when he left; there would be no telling if he would be able to return, but if I left my family, there was a ninety-eight percent chance that they would still be there. Also, I did not have to worry about Rildo's return in his time.

"Tou-san..." I finally said, "...if... if it's okay with you, I'd like to keep training with Trunks-nii until this whole mess is over."

"Don't you want your old man to train you?"

"Yes... but not when Trunks-nii's fighting those things all alone!" I paused for a second before I began to blush slightly. I had said more than I had wanted.

Dad just chuckled as he squatted down so that he could look me in the eyes. "Don't be embarrassed! You two really seem close." He then ruffled my hair. "Take care, Goshi. It's going to be a while before I can see you again. But I'm glad to see that you're still alive and doin' alright."

I just stared for a second before his words finally sank in. "Y-you mean...!"

He stood up before I could finish my question and turned to Trunks. "I'm leaving my daughter in your hands. But please, keep her safe. I've already lost her once before, and I don't want that to happen again."

Trunks seemed taken back for a second at first, but he quickly recovered. "I promise I will." He then turned to me, "Goshi-kun... we need to get going."

"A-already?" I asked him in a confused voice.

"I've already been here longer than I should. I really don't want to potentially cause anything else to change."

"I understand..." I then turned towards where everyone else was standing and waved. I then turned towards Dad and hugged him. "Bye, Tou-san!"

"Bye, Goshi... please, stay safe." His words were little more than a whisper. I understood. He rarely let anyone see how deeply he truly cared for his family. He then looked at Trunks, "Stay alive. Now I have something to work towards. We'll train hard for three years. You two better do the same."

"Sure." There was a grin on Trunks face as he replied. It had been a while since I had seen so positive. "Come on, Goshi-kun." He then took off.

"Hey! Wait up!" I then took off after him.

…..

"I honestly can't believe that Tou-san is letting me go back with you..." I told Trunks as returned to the location of his time machine.

"I really can't believe it either," he confided. "He had mentioned what it was like for him to believe that you were gone. It seemed so out of place for a man who's so... carefree."

"That's just how he is. Tou-san doesn't like to cause other people to worry."

"I guess not... Well, are you ready?"

"Yep!"

The two of us then climbed into the time machine. Trunks almost immediately began warming it up, but before we left, he decided to allow everyone else to see it for a brief moment. Everyone stared at us for a second as we waved from inside its glass dome before the machine began its trip through the time stream.

…...

As Goshi and Trunks travel back through the time stream, Goku and Piccolo tell the others of the bleak future of Trunks' time. Can the two groups keep themselves safe during the three years that it will take for the androids to appear in the present? Find out on the next exciting episode of dragonballz!

* * *

1 Contrary to the anime, Vegeta never saw Goku as a super Saiyan until this point in time.


	11. Unexpected Welcoming

"So Mirai-kun…how do you feel now that you know you're stuck with me for another three years?" I asked Trunks once we got back to his time and began our trip back to Capsule Corp.

He immediately glared at me. "Will you stop calling me that already?" he hissed.

I smiled. Even though I had managed not to call him that while in my time, I just could not resist once we got back to his. He really did not like me calling him by a girl's name. "Why? I have a boy's name, so why can't I jokingly give you a girl's name? Besides, this is payback for all the grief you gave me while training!"

"It's not my fault that your Kaa-san named you as such." He then angrily looked away. "And I never pushed you to your breaking point! But, if you want me to, I can sure start."

"Jeez, Mirai-kun…" I said as I flew in front of Trunks so that I could get him to look at me. "I'm just joking with you… but why am I not allowed to give you a nickname? I mean, I've given my brother a nickname…"

"I don't care if you give me a nickname! Just don't give me a girl's name!" He was rather angry with me, but for some strange reason, I just thought that his reaction was funny. "Why are you laughing!" he demanded as I doubled over in amusement.

"Hee hee… I can't help it!" Still laughing, I sped away from him. Since he was angry, he just stared at me blankly before he stuttered slightly and moved to catch up with me.

….

"Come on Mirai-kun… why are you angry with me now?" I asked once we arrived at Capsule Corp. As we flew, I thought he had calmed down, but some time during our flight, he stopped talking to me.

"You know better than to fly off alone while in this time," he said as he opened the door. He did not even turn his head to look at me while he spoke.

I rolled my eyes. "I left you for all of… thirty seconds and you could see me the whole time. How is that going off on my own!" I then paused for a second. "I mean it! What did I do!"

It was then that I noticed that he had not entered the house. The door was not even opened all the much, even though he had his hand on it. "Trunks-nii…?"

"There's… someone here…" His voice sounded slightly worried.

"Is that a bad thing?"

He shook his head. "I'm not sure yet." He then pushed the door completely open. "But Kaa-san is talking to the person…and it doesn't seem like anything is out of the ordinary. I guess we can go in…"

"I hope so." My hands went behind my head as I looked skyward. "I'm starting to get really hungry."

He immediately looked back at me; I think to see if I was serious. After a second, he began laughing. "I swear, you say that just to catch me off guard."

Now it was my turn to get angry. "I'm sorry that I have to eat!" He knew that I hated it when he mentioned that ate more than the average person did.

He just continued to laugh at me as he entered the house. I grudgingly followed him through the door to the kitchen. I focusing on my bad mood so much so that I did not notice that he stopped in front of me. I nearly walked into him. "Trunks-nii…?"

"Kaa-san…? What's going on…?" he asked, ignoring me. Confused, I looked around his legs and peered into the room. Bulma was sitting at the table, looking as if she had been in a conversation. Across from her, there was another person that I did not quite recognize. This person was also a woman and appeared to have suffered from a lot of stress and grief. The strangest thing was she reminded me of my mother.

"Oh, Trunks! It's nothing. ChiChi-san here," she said as she indicated the other woman. My eyes widened immediately. That was my mother's name, "decided to stop in for a bit."

Bulma then leaned back on her chair. "I actually wasn't expecting you back for a good while yet. So, how did everything go?"

"Do you really think this is best time to be asking that?" Trunks seemed antsy and kept motioning to me to keep behind him.

"Why?" Bulma then paused for a moment before her eyes widened. "You mean, he agreed…!"

Trunks nodded before she gave a false laugh and spoke again. "Why don't you go freshen up? I'm going to start making dinner soon."

"Sure…" Trunks then turned and used his eyes to motion that I was to go with him. He immediately made sure that he shielded me from the other woman.

"What are you two hiding from me?" the mystery woman, ChiChi, demanded. Her voice even reminded me of Mother's.

"It's nothing! My son was out running a few errands today." Bulma was clearly just trying to make a cover story. She sounded too nervous to be convincing.

"Like I believe that!" The woman then turned her attention to Trunks, "And just where do you think you're going!" This woman was clearly getting angry, and I was starting to get nervous. There had to be a reason that Trunks and Bulma were trying to keep me away from this woman, who was reacting the way my mother would.

"Just what is it you're hiding!" the woman said after Trunks was unable to clearly give her an answer to why he was attempting to leave the room. She then moved so that she would be able to look him in the face, but immediately froze when she saw me. "Th-this ch-child…" she stuttered, "w-who is he? He looks… just like Go-Gohan-chan…"

"Um… ChiChi-san… how about you sit down and relax? I'll explain everything…" Bulma told her in an attempt to get the woman to allow Trunks and I to leave the area.

" 'Explain everything'…?" the woman repeated faintly, before she erupted in rage. "What are you talking about! Who is this kid! Why does he look like my son! …Wait… don't tell me…. My son… he did the unthinkable! He ran off and had a kid without telling me!" She then fell to the floor and start crying.

"ChiChi-san… i-it's not like that at all!" Bulma said in an attempt to calm the woman down. It had the opposite effect.

The woman immediately stopped crying and immediately became infuriated with Bulma. "HOW CAN YOU SAY THAT WHEN THIS KID LOOKS JUST LIKE MY SON!" she yelled before she looked at the ceiling. "Where did I go wrong? I tried to do the best I could without you, Goku-sa (1)… but…" She continued on like that for a while.

"…Um… Bulma-san…?" I whispered, hoping that I would not catch the attention of the crazed lady. "Who is she?"

"YOU MEAN YOU DIDN'T TELL HIM WHO I AM!" I cringed as I realized she had heard me as her voice was incredibly loud. "HOW CAN YOU NOT LET A CHILD KNOW WHO HIS GRANDPARENTS ARE?" The lady then relaxed slightly and turned to me. I immediately hid behind Trunks' legs. I did not want to admit it, but she frightened me.

"Don't tell me you're scare of me, with those demons flying around…" the lady said as she bent down slightly. I assumed that she was speaking about the artificial humans. "So…. What's your name?"

"Me!" No matter what I did, I could not hide the nervousness of my voice. "I'm… I'm Son Goshi…"

Her eyes immediately darkened when she heard my name, and I was definitely scared. "You mean… not only did my son have a child without me knowing…" the lady said faintly before her voice rose again, "…HE NAMED HIM AFTER HIS GOOD-FOR-NOTHING SISTER!"

"CHICHI!" Bulma yelled, which got everyone's attention. "Before you start blaming your son for things, YOU MIGHT WANT TO GET YOUR STORY STRAIGHT!" Everyone stared at her for a second before she continued. "First off, Goshi-chan is a girl. Secondly, she isn't from this time period; she's actually from the past. Thirdly, she's **your** daughter! That's right, **yours**!"

The lady, as well as myself, was absolutely speechless. "B-but… that's…. that's impossible… my d-daughter's gone!" she stuttered as she tried to find her words.

A rather smug look appeared on Bulma's face at that point. "When your son found out that I was making a time machine, he asked me if he would one day be allowed to use it so that he could help his sister. He knew that it would not affect anything in this time, but it would allow her to have the life she didn't in the past."

"Gohan-san died before he could make the trip," Trunks continued, causing the woman to look at him with an unbelieving expression. "I took the trip in his stead, since I promised him that I would if anything happened to him."

"If that's true… th-then why is **she** here!" the lady hissed as she motioned to me. "Shouldn't she be in her own time then?"

"I'm here because I want to be!" I told her as firmly as I could. Sure she was frightening, but she was attempting to blame things on Trunks. It wasn't his fault (mostly) that I was in this time. It was my own decision!

She stared at me. "And what did your parents have to say about this!"

"Tou-san was fine with it! Trunks-nii asked him if he could continue training me, and after asking me how I felt about it, he consented."

"What about your Kaa-san! And what do you mean by 'continue training'?"

I shifted my weight slightly. "I… I haven't seen Kaa-san since I was taken…"

"When I went to assist her," Trunks continued immediately, not allowing the woman to speak again, "she had been injured and the creature that had taken her was right behind us. There was really no other choice at the time than to take her back her with me."

"AND YOU'VE BEEN TURNING HER INTO A MINDLESS BRUTE!" the woman nearly screamed, which caused both me and Trunks to back away from her.

"It's not like that ChiChi-san," Bulma told her as she got in between us. "Goshi-chan does alternate between studying and fighting… here, just sit down, and I'll explain."

"You better!" she growled before she allowed herself to accept Bulma's generosity.

"Trunks, Goshi-chan, do you mind going into another room?" The two of us shook our heads before we left the room as calmly as possible.

….

"I'm sorry that you had to see that…" Trunks told me sadly as I followed him to one of the upper rooms. "Kaa-san told me that she was much more stable before she lost her husband… and then she nearly went completely over the edge when Gohan-san died…"

"…She wasn't much different at home… when she got very angry…" I replied in a voice hushed by sadness.

Trunks stopped dead in his tracks and stared at me. "You mean you…?"

"Recognized her?" I asked, finishing his statement. "Yes…"

"What's with the hesitance?"

I shifted my gaze. "Her reaction… if Kaa-san from your time acted like that… then I don't think I want to know what her reaction will be when I finally go home! I mean… she was so angry just now… and if she's like that when I go home… then… then…"

A sigh from Trunks brought me out of my thoughts. I looked up and realized that he was kneeling down so he could look me in the eyes. I was not expecting that, so I jumped when I realized that he was so close.

"You don't know if that will happen, do you?" he asked me kindly. "You have a complicated story… and I'm sure that your Kaa-san will understand if you take the time to explain it to her."

"She'll probably just forbid me to enter the house… or ground me… or worse!" I said in a terrified voice. I was being childish, but at the time, I was worried that Mother's anger might cause her to move beyond a simple spanking (2).

I immediately felt like I had been grabbed under the chin by a piece of steel. As he turned my head, I realized that Trunks was using force to get me to look at him. I refused him as I continued to keeps my eyes looking elsewhere.

"Goshi, look at me!" he told me harshly. I was a bit unnerved. He rarely dropped the suffix at the end of a name when he addressed someone. Slightly concerned for my well-being, I complied.

"Stop thinking like that! You're being childish!" The harsh tone in his voice caused me to flinch.

"Let go of me!" I hissed, since I could not reply to his statement. I just wanted to be left alone, so I began to struggle to get out of his grasp.

"Do you really think that she'd do anything to lose you again!" he snapped, which caused me to stop my fruitless attempt at escape. "You've never seen it, but I've been privileged to see your Kaa-san, the one from this time, cry for hours just because her son mentioned you! You haven't heard how deeply she regrets losing you!"

"…" I could not speak as I finally pulled away from his grasp. "H-how can you b-be so sure!" I immediately began to hold back the tears that were beginning to flow.

Trunks pulled me into a hug, before he picked me up and began walking. "I keep forgetting that you're a lot younger than me…" he told me quietly as we moved. "Maybe I should have left you back in your own time… you're only seven, but for three of those years, you haven't been able to be cared for by _your_ family."

"D-don't say th-that, Trunks-nii…" I told him between sobs. "I-if I w-wasn't h-here… th-then who would h-help you f-fight?"

"I can take care of myself, Goshi-kun," he told me in a lighter tone before he grew serious again. "But even for me, it was a while before your brother let me go after the androids. I think I was almost a teenager… but that's beside the point. I had at least part of my family around me that whole time, but… we… I've taken that from you."

"Th-that's not t-true! B-besides… th-they could h-have all b-be h-hurt if I h-had s-stayed home…"

"The risk might have been worth it if I knew that you were going to be this affected…" he then opened the door to my room and stepped in. A few seconds later, he sat me down on my bed and sat down next to me.

"But, then th-this future m-might not h-have h-happened… and s-something w-worse could b-be h-happening in my t-time."

"Maybe… but, you're brother probably wouldn't dislike me so much." That caught me off guard. So I stared at him blankly for a moment before I started laughing.

"There we go…" he told me playfully as he ruffled my hair. "Now that you've gotten out some pent-up emotions and laughed at my expense, do you feel better?"

"A little…" I ruefully admitted.

"Good…" he then got up. "I'm going to see if the coast is clear downstairs. I'd hate to see what would happen if they knew you were upset." He was about to exit the room when he looked back over his shoulder. "I forgot… if they're still down there, would you like me to bring you back a snack?"

"Yes!" I told him enthusiastically. "…But how come you're being so nice to me today?" I was starting to get this feeling that this was the calm before the storm.

"I thought that we'd make today somewhat relaxing, since your training is going to resume tomorrow," he told me in a calm voice. I glared at him. That proved it! He was just trying to make me think that he was going to be nice to me so that it would make up for the horror that would be tomorrow's training.

"But…" he continued in a reluctant tone, "I am happy that you're going to be here for a bit longer." He then left the room, leaving me absolutely stunned.

If I had just heard him correctly, it sounded like he was telling me the truth! He actually wanted to continue training me! That thought comforted me more than anything else that he had said that day… but they also brought up an issue that I had been previously reluctant to think about.

When it is time for me to finally go back to my own time, how were we going to react to it? I was one thing, and I knew that I would miss him terribly since he was family to me… but it was probably going to be that way for him as well. I owed him so much, but how would it be okay for me to hurt him like that?

I shook my head. I would worry about that when the time came.

…..

As Trunks and Goshi enjoy the rest of one of the few peaceful days granted to them within that time, doubts of the future begin to trouble their minds. Can the two get back to the past in one peace in three years? Find out on the next exciting episode of dragonballz!

* * *

1 ChiChi has what is considered a country accent in the manga and Japanese anime. She'll cut off the ends of certain words. Here, she's shortening 'san' to 'sa'.

2 It is suggested that ChiChi does spank her children on rare occasions, since we do see her spank Goten after he and chibi Trunks (as Gotenks) run off and go fight Boo on their own… and then get beaten by him.


	12. Rematch

After the incident with my mother from Trunks' time, it was unfortunately decided that she was going to come visit at least a couple times a month. I really wanted to protest this, since this version of my mother really did frighten me, but it was the only way to prevent her from destroying what was left of Capsule Corp. herself.

Once that was out of the way, Trunks began his new training regime with me. Apparently, this time around, he was determined to push me just about as hard as I could. When I asked him why, he never gave me any particular reason. I found out from Bulma a few days later that a possible reason was that he wanted me to be a Super Saiyan.

I think that I was either shocked or elated when she told me that. Me, a super Saiyan? That meant that I would be able to become as strong as Trunks or my dad! Not only would becoming one allow me to help out Trunks so much more efficiently, it would also satisfy my curiosity. I was burning to know what it felt like!

I mean, I had heard that Dad acted a lot differently after his first transformation, so I could not help but wonder. And, Trunks made it worse since he would not speak about it with me. If he did, anything said was incredibly vague. It was enough to drive me insane! I wanted to know!

But… was it even possible for me to become a Super Saiyan? I mean, not only was I really young, but I was also a girl. Could girls become Super Saiyans? I doubt that even Vegeta knew that answer.

…..

Several months had passed without much success, and the disappointment was starting to wear on both te teacher and the student. Several days a week, we would go through these brutal training sessions, but they did not bare the desired results.

It was really beginning to unnerve me. How would I be able to continue fighting besides Trunks, and eventually my father, if I did not become a Super Saiyan? Even if I was becoming stronger, it was not enough to allow me to be on par with the artificial humans. That made me worry that I was just going to be left behind and forced to leave everything to the people I desperately wanted to help.

My fears were seemingly becoming valid as Trunks was starting to tell me to stay out of the area when he went to go fight the androids. Before hand, he would usually tell me to stay behind but would not say anything if I decided to follow him. Now, if I tried to follow him, he would turn around and reiterate that I was to stay away.

It hurt. I felt useless, and those feelings were beginning to manifest themselves as depression. It even affected my training as I was slowly beginning to lose the will to fight, which was something that I never thought was possible. Fighting is all that I had dreamed of doing, and my dreams were beginning to shatter.

…..

"Trunks, you need to talk to her!" I heard Bulma whisper one day as I walked past the room she was in. I immediately stopped moving and pressed myself against the wall in a way that I hoped would prevent me from being seen.

"Talk? About what?" her son replied in a slightly confused voice.

Bulma made an irritated noise. "You haven't noticed that Goshi-chan's upset?"

"She's been out of it… but I didn't think that it was an issue…"

"You haven't been allowing her to fight the androids with you!" Her voice was accusing.

"I don't want her to get killed!" There was a pause as there was a slight indication that Trunks was attempting to find the words to explain further.

"I know that, but haven't realized that leaving her behind might not be a good idea? You had been allowing her to fight with you, but now, you're not. She must be feeling something similar to rejection, which is why she's been acting so… differently."

Rejection? Bulma's words confused me as I continued to listen; I thought that rejection was something a person felt when they were in love or what they perceived as love. How did such a word apply to my current situation?

Trunks seemed to be thinking along the same lines that I was. "What do you mean 'rejection'? You… make it sound like…"

"Like what? A couple?" Bulma's voice was full of mirth for a moment. She was clearly teasing him. Although, the teasing only lasted for that brief moment. "You're her teacher. Before, although you really didn't want her to get involved, you let her. But now… now you're not allowing her to go with you. I bet she thinks that you do not think that she's good enough to assist you anymore. It's like rejection, at least to her."

"But how can I?" Trunks immediately began to argue. "She can take care of herself… but it's not enough. We've been lucky so far… but what's going to happen when our luck runs out and I can't help her?"

"If she was a Super Saiyan, like you, you'd let her go, right?"

"Yeah… but…"

"But what?" Bulma's voice became accusing again. "You haven't been successful, right? The probable reason is that you haven't found the right motivation for her yet. I mean, for you, Gohan-kun, and Son-kun, that transformation was triggered by rage, right? So, how do you expect that to happen to her if there is nothing around here that could cause her that much pain?"

He struggled with his words for a moment. "But, that's what I've been trying to do! You've heard her complain about how rough training has been recently, right? I'm trying to get her upset enough during one of _our_ sessions so that there will be no possibility for something to go wrong!"

"But that's not working," Bulma told him in a generally calm voice, which was done in an attempt to get through to him. "Goshi-chan is a lot like Son-kun; he needed a battle so he could transform, and it looks like she will too."

"But… I can't… I can't do that!" Trunks shouted.

"And why not!" Apparently, Bulma had just about had it with her son.

"Goku-san entrusted me to take care of her and keep her safe! He doesn't want to lose her! So, tell me, how can I keep her safe and **alive** if I allow her to keep fighting with me in her current state?"

"WILL YOU THINK ABOUT WHAT YOU'RE SAYING?" Bullma yelled, which caused me to shudder. "YOU ASKED SON-KUN IF YOU COULD TRAIN HER, AND YOU PROMISED GOHAN-KUN THE SAME THING! HOW THE HELL DO YOU EXPECT TO KEEP YOUR PROMISES IF YOU KEEP ACTING LIKE SHE'S SOME HELPLESS CHILD!"

She then paused and breathed for a second so that she could calm down. "Besides, you haven't been having any improvement in fighting the androids, right? At this rate, it will only be some time before I lose you for good, and then what? Goshi-chan won't have any one to protect her, and your promise to Son-kun will be broken."

I heard Trunks take a quick intake of breath. His mother's words apparently hit home, but he said nothing. From where I was, I could not tell if the silence from him was due to shame or lack of words.

"What's with you, Trunks?" Bulma then asked him as he continued not to speak. "You were so happy when Goshi-chan was allowed to come back to this time, but now, you seem as if that was a mistake…"

I could not listen to the rest. As I hurried back down the hallway, I thought about everything that I had heard. Trunks wanted to keep me safe because of what my dad said, but to do so, he did not want me to help him with his battles until I became a Super Saiyan… but to achieve that… it seemed like I needed to be in a battle. It was a moot point.

….

"Come on, Goshi-kun! I know that you can do better than this!" Trunks yelled at me later that day during our training session.

I was doing pretty badly to say the least. I had no desire to really try, so I was just doing motions instead of actually fighting. It was really irritating Trunks.

"I'm just not in the mood…" I told him irritably as I picked myself off of the ground and dusted myself off, seeing as he had just knocked me down.

"You're 'not in the mood'?" he asked with a raised eyebrow. He definitely got the idea that there was something wrong from that. Bulma was the one who would say that line, not me, especially when it came to fighting. I doubt that he had ever heard me say that I did not want to fight… well, except maybe for when he first began training me.

"Yeah… Is that a problem?" My voice was both sullen and short. "I think that I'd just like to go in for the rest of the day…" I then began to walk back towards his house.

We were training outside of Capsule Corp. that day, which we had been doing for some time, since he was being so overprotective. When we trained there, we were not allowed to use any chi attacks, in case we could not control something and ended up damaging the house or another nearby building. This did not stop neighbors from complaining to Bulma about how loud our fights were or how the earth sometimes shook when we hit something.

"And just where do you think you're going?" he asked me somewhat playfully as he grabbed the back of my gi.

"I'm going inside!" I snapped as I tried to get my clothes out of his grasp. He just laughed at me. As soon as I got free, I turned around and glared at him. "You aren't going to let me fight with you, so what's the point in training me!"

"You were listening to our conversation?" His voice still had mirth in it.

"Well, how can't I! When Bulma-san yells, you can hear her throughout the house!" I was really starting to get angry at him. If he knew that I had been listening, why did he sound so happy? He should be at least concerned or sullen!

"There's truth in that."

I was about to start yelling at him when a blast shook the area. "They're back…" My tone was bitter as I turned away from him. "I guess that I should head back into the house."

"If that's what you want," His voice gave me the impression that he had shrugged, so I looked back at him. He was smiling slightly as he glanced at me from the side. "But, Goshi-kun, I was under the impression that you wanted to help…"

I stared at him blankly for a moment. Did he just indirectly say that I was allowed to help him fight? I was pretty sure he did, but it made no sense. He did not want me anywhere near the battle field earlier that morning, so what changed his mind?

"Well?" he asked me simply.

"Are you sure you're not bi-polar?" I asked him while I was still in a state of disbelief. Yes, I did know what being bi-polar (1) meant; Bulma had mentioned it before. It just seemed like the best description of him at the moment, since he usually did not do a 180 in a few hours.

He laughed at me again. "That's not something that I expected to come out of you." His laughter was cut short as another blast shook the ground. "Are you coming or not Goshi-kun?" he asked me; his voice was much more serious.

"Of course I'm coming!" I told him irritably as I followed him into the sky.

…..

Several more blasts lit the sky as we few towards their epicenter. This was a bit unusual, seeing as the artificial humans liked to take their time and play around for a while before they created mass destruction. "Is it just me, or does it seem like they're angry?" I asked Trunks, hoping that I did not sound as nervous as I felt. Those two were nearly impossible to deal with when they were upset.

Trunks said nothing as he stared at the large plume of smoke that was rising from the scene. Even though he did not say anything, I caught him glance at me a few times; he was definitely concerned.

"Goshi-kun…" he said as we neared the smoke, "Please, promise me that if it gets too dangerous, that you'll take off!"

"But… Trunks-nii…!" He was asking me the impossible! He knew full well that I would not go anywhere if I was fighting alongside him.

He glared at me. "This seems like it could turn bad rather quickly! I need to know that you'll leave if things go wrong!"

"I don't want to…" I told him irritably, "… but if it makes you happy, I promise I'll leave if it looks like we're going to die."

He rolled his eyes at me. I was acting childish again, but he knew that he was not going to get a better response from me, especially since this was the first fight in months that I would be in.

"Are you ready to head down?" he asked me. All of the playfulness that he had earlier had completely vanished. It left him completely serious, which actually relieved me as he had been acting so unusual for a while. It was good to have the real Trunks back!

"Yeah!" I told him happily, which caused him to smile slightly. My fighting spirit had sure come back in a hurry.

"Okay, then…" he then transformed. "Let's go!" He then raced down to the ground. I had an incredible hard time attempting to keep up with him, but I did manage to land only seconds after he did. That made me more than a little proud of myself.

By this time, the constant blasting had stopped and the only thing that we could hear was the sound of falling rubble and the occasional wail of someone who was unseen. What made it worse was the entire area was filled with smoke from the debris. Visibility was incredibly low.

"Where'd they go…?" I whispered, almost afraid of doing anything that could give our position away. Sure, I wanted to fight, but when you are fighting against enemies that you cannot sense, you need any advantage that you can get. Not being able to see much of anything was a huge hazard.

"Huh, so they _both_ came," I heard a male's voice tell someone. My blood immediately went cold; it was Juunanagou.

"That's a surprise," a woman's voice, Juuhachigou's voice, replied. "I thought that the runt was gone for good."

"Well, now that there are two of them, we can each have some fun without getting on each other's nerves."

"You get the runt. I call Trunks!"

Juunanagou made an irritated noise. "Fine, but I won't help you if he proves to be too much for you."

"Like that could ever happen!"

I felt Trunks tense beside me. "Goshi-kun, get ready!" he whispered urgently. "They're going to attempt to split us up."

I gulped and nodded, even though I was pretty sure that he was not paying attention to me. He was far more focused on attempting to locate the artificial humans. I could not blame him; a surprise attack could be deadly.

"GOSHI, LOOK OUT!" Trunks then yelled as he spun around. I responded to his words far too slowly as even before I had managed to turn, Juunanagou had taken my back and had nailed me with a hard right hook before he used a sweeping kick to knock me away from Trunks.

"GOSHI!" Trunks yelled again, before I heard him yell in pain. Juuhachigou must have found him.

I struggled to prevent myself from crashing into the ground. It had not happened for some time (being knocked down is something entirely different), and I was not going to let an android ruin that streak! Eventually, I managed to catch myself, and I spun around to face the direction from which I had come.

It did not do me any good as the visibility was still next to nothing. Juunanagou could be right next to me in the smoke without me knowing it! Then it hit me, they had planned for this to happen! They were going to fight Trunks in this together and kill him!

For the first time in my life, I thanked Kami-sama that I was alive and able to help. Trunks did not deserve to be killed by these androids!

"So, you're all alone now," Juunanagou's voice told me. I looked around to find the source, but I still could not see him. "So, how are you going to fair now that Trunks isn't going to be around to save you?" He then laughed; he was behind me.

I spun around to see him emerge from the smoke with an evil grin on his face.

…..

Oh no! The androids have separated Trunks and Goshi! Will the two be able to handle being alone, or will the androids' scheme succeed in doing them both in? Find out on the next action-packed episode of dragonballz!

* * *

1 For those of you who may not know, bi-polar disorder is characterized by severe mood swings. A person can go from exceeding happy to suicidal in a matter of minutes. This disorder was formally known as Manic Depression.


	13. Psychological Warfare

I spun around to see the android emerge and slowly move towards me; the grin he wore was dripping with evil.

I was absolutely rooted to the spot. This was the first time that I had faced one of the androids alone when the intent to kill was absolutely obvious. I just stared into his icy blue eyes as the distance between us closed. My breath came in short gasps, my legs refused to move, and the rest of my body began to shake.

The notion that I was too young to fight him by myself crept into my mind. I did not understand it; I had fought against the androids before, but I had never been so afraid. Could it be that because Trunks had refused to let me fight with him for so long I began to doubt my abilities as well as myself? Was it possible that my fear was completely my own doing?

"What's wrong?" Juunanagou asked in a semi-cheerful voice. It seemed like he was enjoying my fear. "Don't you want to fight me?"

I had to move; there was no way around it. The only problem was that I was torn between what I wanted to do and what I had to do. I wanted to run, to get away from there. Yet I had to stay so that I could help Trunks fight. I called myself a coward and a spineless hypocrite as I tried to muster the bravery that I no longer had to stay and fight.

I am unsure how I did it, but I did manage to force myself into a fighting stance. Juunanagou seemed pleased when he saw me. "I was getting worried that you wouldn't be any fun," he told me as he outstretched his hand. I eyed it warily as such a friendly gesture was out of place. His grin just widened with my reaction. "Oh come now, after everything we've been through together, you're going to act like that?"

When I did not move, he retracted his hand and his smile faded slightly. "Admit it, you're scared. Heh, I never thought that Gohan's son would make it so obvious… not that it matters." He then closed his eyes and seemed to have a small personal moment. His eyes the snapped open and an expression oozing battle lust appeared on his face. "I'll make sure that you'll see your Tou-san in **Hell**!"

He began to laugh as he lunged at me. I somehow managed to dodge him, but he wasted no time in altering his plan of attack. Within the blink of an eye, he was besides me, preparing for what appeared to be a right hook. He just smiled and used his knee to hit me in the small of my back, forcing me to stretch backwards.

He sneered as he brought his elbow crashing down onto my stomach. The blows were critical and I could not believe the pain; it felt like I was breaking in half. Juunanagou then moved away from me and fired a barrage of chi blasts at me. I had not recovered from his attacks, so all of the new ones hit their mark. The only thing that broke my fall was the ground.

"Don't tell me that's all you got!" Juunanagou asked me as I attempted to pick myself up. "Even Gohan could take more than that!"

"S-stop comparing me to him!" I hissed as I attempted to stand up. It was difficult, and I was surprised. I should have been able to deal with a lot more damage that that!

He just grinned at my response. "So the little warrior can still stand… and here I was thinking that my fun would be ruined so quickly."

I just glared at him. He was making me angry, and I wanted to shut him up. As I straightened myself out, I determined that the desire to punch him in the face so that I could force that smile off of his face outweighed my fears.

"That's it!" he taunted. "Now, show me what you've got!" He started his combination off with a left jab, which I managed to block but that was the only one that I blocked. Hit after hit came afterwards and I was powerless to stop them. He finished it with an inside crescent that connected with my jaw.

I staggered backwards. The taste of blood was in my month, and I was praying that there was not any internal damage. After checking to see if there was any blood running down my chin, I went on the offensive.

I tried every combination of which I would think in an attempt to hit him, but it did not work. He dodged every attack with ease, and if I used chi, he simple deflected it! It was maddening!

I lunged at him, but he just jumped out of the way and laughed. "You're making this too easy!" He then moved in from of me and grabbed me by the hair. "Pathetic! How did someone like you ever except to pose a threat to us!" He then threw me.

I guess that I tumbled helplessly for a good hundred meters before I finally crashed into something that I assumed was a giant pile of rubble. I stood up immediately, using the pile as a steadying agent, believing that he was going to come after me, but he did not. Instead, he had disappeared into the smoke again.

It was then that I realized that the smoke had still not dissipated, and I could not understand why. Was there something on fire? It did not smell like it, but that could be attributed to the wind and concentration factors.

It was then that I noticed that Trunks' chi. He was still nearby and alive, which was a relief. I had been so focused on Juunanagou that I had forgotten to keep tabs on him. I shook my head; I was doing everything wrong in this battle.

"I told her that this would be too much," I heard Juunanagou mention irritably. I turned around to see him standing on the top of the pile. He then looked down and smiled at me. "Do you want to see something interesting?" The question was innocent enough, but there was something sinister about it.

He formed a large ball of chi in his hand and paused for a moment before he jumped off the pile and slammed it into the ground besides me. The explosion was intense, causing me to defend myself. When I felt it was safe, I lowered my defenses and looked around. All the smoke was gone, and Juunanagou was laughing.

"What's so funny!" I demanded of him.

He snickered before he answered. "Just look behind you." I glared at him before I complied.

"…Wh-what is this!" I eventually whispered. The force of what I was seeing was just too much for me. What I thought was a pile of rubble… was something entirely different. It was something so monstrous that I could not turn away from it, no matter how hard I tried. It was a pile… a pile of dismembered body parts, probably created from mid-level chi blasts hitting numerous people.

It was awful… There were so many of them, and the pile was at least seven meters high. It was just horrible, what made it worse was that there was blood dripping off the pile from various places onto the ground. I looked down and noticed that there streams of blood all around me as well as bloody splotches elsewhere on the ground.

I then realized that I had touched this same pile earlier. I looked down at my hand; it was covered in dried blood. I immediately began to feel sick. Everything about this situation was wrong.

Juunanagou began to laugh again. "We knew that either you or Trunks would react like this if you saw something like this, so we decided to go ahead and do it. You can't imagine how dirty we got while we were moving anything!"

I stared at him as my mind was beginning to recover from the shock. "You monster!" I yelled when I found my voice. I began to grow angry; he cared about getting blood on himself, but he did not care that he had killed so many! "How…! Just how can you treat people like this! It's sick!"

"I don't understand why you're so worked up." He crossed his arms as he glanced at me. "You humans are nothing but rodents, and rodents need to be eliminated."

"WHAT WOULD YOU KNOW!" I yelled as I punched him in the face, which sent him flying. I was furious. How dare he kill all those people!

Juunanagou caught himself and wiped the side of his mouth. His icy eyes narrowed as he examined me. "That wasn't the response I was expecting," he told me calmly. "You were supposed to break down."

"I'll show you a 'break down'," I growled as I extended my left arm towards him. "**RITSUZEN! **(1)" The shaky red wave sped towards the android and hit him before he could move out of the way.

Juunanagou was clearly irritated after the smoke cleared and was about to fire one of his own blasts at me. I was not going to give him that chance. Before the smoke even began to fade, I sped into the air above the android and waited for him to be able to see clearly again. Once the moment arrived, I fired as many blasts as I could at him.

I was not even sure how many of the blasts hit him, but I did not care. No amount of damage could satisfy the angry I felt towards the artificial creature.

What was it about created people and robots that irritated me so severely! Was it the pain that they caused people? I was not sure; I just knew that this _thing_ in front of me needed to be stopped.

I did not stop firing until the ground where the android had fallen warped. I breathed heavily as I examined my work and slightly relaxed. My body was shaking, probably due to rage, but it worried me. I rarely became so angry.

I knew that he was not finished. There was no way that I could finish him with my abilities; I was just too weak. What I did know was that he had no come up from the rubble, making me unsure of what to do next. Should I attempt to charge him, or should I go find Trunks?

An explosion caught my attention. I turned just in time to see Juuhachigou crash into the ground below me. A familiar chi then came near me. "I'm so glad to see you!" I told Trunks as I looked at him.

Trunks smiled weakly. He looked like he had been horribly beaten and was a bit fatigued. There was also a cut above one of his eyes that was bleeding pretty severely. Although, it just made feel slightly better to see that he was still in his Super Saiyan state.

"Are you okay?" he asked me in a cautious tone. He seemed to know that there was something that had happened. He then looked at the ground to check upon his opponent. His eyes widened in shock. "Goshi-kun… what is in that pile on the ground…?" His voice was filled with revulsion.

I struggled to find the right words to explain the horror I had seen. "P-p-people…" I could not say any other word.

The shock he felt could not be hidden. After staring at me for a moment, he turned his attention back towards the ground. I watched as his hands clench; the sight not only horrified him, but it angered him. "I can't believe that they…" His words were cut off by how hard he clenched his jaw.

"So Trunks, do you like our little display?" Juunanagou asked as he appeared behind us. I turned just enough to see a wicked grin appear on his face.

Juuhachigou appeared beside him. "I don't think he appreciates it very much," she said in a tone full of mocking rejection. "How about we show him how it was created, maybe then he can see the beauty in it." She then laughed a mirthless laugh.

The two of them then raced towards the ground; we reluctantly followed them. "Goshi-kun, don't look," Trunks whispered as he realized how close we were to the androids so-called 'work of art'.

"I've already seen it up-close," I replied as I attempted to not think about the revolting sight.

It was then Juunanagou's turn to laugh. "Gohan's son is a strange kid. I was expecting him to lose the will to move after seeing it, but instead, he attacked me full force. It was… a welcome surprise." A rustling sound then distracted him.

A frightened human scurried from beneath some rubble. He then looked at us with terrified eyes before he stood up and began to run. "Heh, just like a frightened animal," Juunanagou told us as he raised his hand and began to concentrate his chi.

"**NO! DON'T!**" Trunks yelled as he attempted to lunge at the fake human as he fired a blast. I looked away as the blast hit. From the sound of the blood spatter, I could tell that he had been blown to pieces. The androids just laughed.

"Why you…!" Trunks gritted through his teeth as he punched the android in the face. Juunanagou did not move an inch. After giving Trunks an irritated look, he kneed him in the stomach, before Juuhachigou struck him in the head with a hard right.

The two of them then began to pummel him. I couldn't do anything; I couldn't even move. Fear had taken over me again, and I had no idea how to overpower it again. My mind was creating images of what had happened to the poor man who had just been killed, and it was almost too much for me.

"Isn't your little friend going to help you?" Juunanagou asked playfully as he connected an inside crescent with Trunks' back.

"What a pity," Juuhachigou added as she threw a chi blast at him. "It would make things so much more interesting."

Trunks hit the ground rather hard, and it seemed to jolt me out of the paralysis that had taken over me. "Trunks-nii…" My voice was low but full of concern. They couldn't take him away from me; I was not going to let them.

I then hit Juuhachigou as hard as I could in the back with my forearms crossed. "Get away from him!"

"So you are going to play with us some more." Juunanagou seemed amused.

"Stop playing with them!" Juuhachigou hissed at her companion. She then glared at me, "That actually hurt you little punk!"

"Leave Goshi alone!" Trunks warned them as he stood up. He looked like he was severely hurting, but it seemed like that was not going to stop him from continuing the fight. In fact, he looked even fiercer than before.

"But out!" Juuhachigou warned him as she fired a chi blast at him. He was not in the shape to get away, which allowed the blast to hit him full force. Again, he fell.

Juunanagou then walked over to him. "I think it's time to end this," he said to no one in particular as he pointed at my fallen master. "How would you like to share the same fate as the other humans that you care so much about?"

'The same fate'? He didn't mean that he was going to… to dismember him, did he! No, that artificial creature couldn't! He couldn't touch the one person outside of my family for whom I would do anything! I wasn't going to let him!

It was then that something… I don't even know how to explain it properly… it was as if something broke or _snapped_. Anger… rage just seemed to consume me. My entire body was being overwhelmed by the sensation, and I almost thought that I was going to be lost in that feeling.

The rage then seemed to release itself and dissipated. I stared at the artificial humans, who seemed to be unnerved by something. "You are **not** going to touch him!" I warned them. It was then that I noticed that my rage was still boiling under the surface, but it did not seem like it was going to take me over again.

"And you think that _you're_ going to stop us?" Juuhachigou laughed.

I wasted no time in punching her in the stomach, causing her to double over. "Why you…!" She then lunged at me; it easily moved out of the way. Irritated, she chased me and began one of her most dangerous combinations. I was surprised when all of her attacks appeared to be in slow motion.

She snarled at me causing her face to contort. Juunanagou seemed amused by her troubles, which caused her to turn on him. "If you think it's so funny, then why don't you give it a shot!"

"Calm down, Juuhachigou," he said in an attempt to appease her. "Being angry at him is probably not going to make it easier on you though."

"Just shut up and help me!"

He shrugged and was about to take off, when he was grabbed from behind. "And just where are you going?" Trunks asked the artificial male. "I thought you were going to finish me?" He then punched him in the face. "That's for earlier!"

"Juunanagou!" Juuhachigou yelled after realizing that her companion was in trouble.

"I thought that you were fighting me," I told her as I hit her again.

Over the course of the next several minutes, Trunks and I fought against the androids with more ferocity than usual. Unlike most of our previous fights, this one actually seemed to be going in our favor. Little by little, we were pushing them back, and eventually, they grew desperate.

When it became apparent that they could possibly lose, the two androids threw a joint-chi blast at us. Trunks detonated it before it hit which caused another intense smoke screen. By the time we moved out of the cloud, they were gone.

I remember staring blankly off into the distance after searching for them for some time. "Did we actually win?" I asked Trunks in a disbelieving voice.

"It seems like it," he replied. He sounded tired. "Are you sure you're okay, Goshi-kun?" he asked after giving me a cautious look.

"I guess so…" I looked at him blankly as my mind had managed to push most of the… unpleasantness… of the day out of my mind. I then yawned; since we were finally able to relax, I had time to realize just how exhausted I was. "…but I am really sleepy…"

I yawned again as I began to sway. Apparently, I was more tired then I thought I was. Trunks steadied me before I fell over. "Have a good rest, Goshi-kun. You earned it."

"Thanks Trunks-nii…" Without a second thought, I drifted off to sleep.

….

For the first time in a long time, Trunks and Goshi were able to stand their ground against the androids. Is this a sign of good things to come, or is it the last ray of light before night comes? Find out next time on the next Dragonballz!

* * *

1 Ritsuzen translates to shudder. Goshi's attack is a wave, that, for whatever reason, looks like it's shaking, hence the name.


	14. Activation

"Come on Mirai-kun!" I nearly yelled at Trunks as I waited as patiently as I could for him to pack up his time machine. The three years was finally up! We were back in my time, and I just had this feeling that we were somehow late. We could already sense some chi, which told me that the fight had already started.

Also, there were several things that I did not want to consider, and a fight would be a welcome distraction. Bulma-san had told me her final good-byes, and I had realized that it was the last time that I would see her or be in the future. It had also made me realize that my time with Trunks was almost up… and I really did not want to think about it.

"Do you have to use that name when we're not around everyone else?" he asked, clearly ignoring my question.

"But it's your nickname." Over the last three years, I had begun calling him that name on a regular basis. It still irritated him, but I liked to use it. To me, it just seemed to suit him, and I did need the practice so that I would not slip up in front of the others.

He just glared at me as he put the time machine's capsule back into its carrier box. "Are you ready to go?"

"I've been ready!"

Trunks was clearly irritated by my mood. I was a bit hyper, to say the least, and we always seemed to get on each other's nerves when I was like that. Although, at the time, it seemed like my hyperness would be an asset as I probably would not tire easily during the fight.

After shaking his head, he took off without another word. I silently followed him; I knew that saying anything else was probably going to be a bad thing. He was in the zone and was really worried about what could have already happened.

…

He led me to the island where the androids were supposed to have appeared, and clearly, they did as it was a mess. He then started to say that he had done something wrong and that he wished that he was able to go back a little further in the time machine. He only stopped when we sensed a chi; the fight was still on!

We then flew to a nearby island and discovered something interesting. In a crater, there was a head of something that was clearly mechanical. Neither Trunks nor I knew what it was. "…What in the world are they **fighting**…?" Trunks asked in absolute horror.

"…" I had no idea what to say. I was just as confused, if not more so than he was. So, instead of making myself sound stupid, I just decided to go over the information that I knew to see if it would help me understand.

"This isn't right…" Trunks continued as he seemingly ignored me. "What's going on…?"

A blast from the nearby rocky plateaus distracted us. It had to mean that the others were still in the area and the fight was still going on! Trunks seemed to reach that conclusion as well and took off immediately, leaving me behind in his dust cloud. After coughing a bit, I took off after him. "WAIT UP!" I yelled after him!

…

Irritably, by the time that I had caught up to Trunks, he and the others were already discussing what had happened. He was rather surprised to learn that Dad's illness had just hit him. "Well… it kinda makes sense, Mirai-kun… and will you stop leaving me behind? It's getting to be annoying," I said as I hoped down the rocks to join them.

"What do you mean?" he asked as he ignored the last part of my statement. He was probably too confused by the preceding words.

I just rolled my eyes. "Knowing him, he spent the great majority of his time during the past three years training. That would decrease his chances of getting that disease since he wasn't really around a lot of people…" My voice just trailed off.

"You don't seem very bothered by that…" Gohan told me in a cold voice. I was not entirely sure if anyone had told him who I was, but it was definitely clear that he was not very happy with me.

I shrugged. "Why should I worry if I know that he's gonna be fine?" That just irritated him more, and for just a moment, I honestly thought that we were going to get into a fight.

"Bulma," Vegeta said suddenly, interrupting the prelude to our fight. I glanced over at him for a second and nearly fell over from shock when the realization hit me: he was a Super Saiyan! He paid me absolutely no mind as he continued. "Gero must be going back to his lab! Do you know where it is?"

"Huh? Where…?" She then thought for a moment. I was surprised to see that she was holding a baby in her arms. After a second, I realized by the baby's blue eyes looked awfully familiar; he was Trunks. I quickly looked over at my mentor, who seemed to have realized what I had been doing, and grinned at him. He just sighed.

"Umm… I think it was in the mountains by **North City**…" Bulma told us. "There was a rumor that he converted a cave into a lab… if he hasn't moved, of course… But I had no idea Dr. Gero was connected to the Red Ribbon Army…" (1)

"All right!" Piccolo said as he attempted to get our attentions. "We're going to destroy Juunanagou and Juuhachigou before Gero has a chance to return to his labs and activate them!"

So, judging by what everyone had said, Juunanagou and Juuhachigou had not been activated yet. Although it was strange, it was definitely a good thing. If we could stop Gero, their creator, then no one in this time would ever have to deal with the androids!

Vegeta made an irritated noise. "The coward's way out…" He then smirked. "I want to be the one to destroy those androids with my own hands. Those other two weren't even worth my time."

"No!" Trunks yelled at Vegeta, which surprised me. I did not think that he would actually yell at his own father. "Don't underestimate those androids! Piccolo-san's right—we have to find the lab and destroy them before they're activated! And if we can't make it in time, we should avoid a battle until Son Goku-san gets well!"

"We don't need to wait for Kakarrot! Can't you see? I've become a Super Saiyan too! And as a Saiyan prince, I must be more powerful than **he** is! I need **no one**!" He then flew off!

I just shook my head. Trunks seemed to know exactly what to say it irritate his father. To make it worse, I finally understood that Vegeta was really on no one's side, but his own. So, how were we going to talk sense into an egotistical jerk?

"Oh! Where's he going?" Tenshinhan shouted.

"…It's true that he has seemed stronger than Goku since he became a Super Saiyan…" Piccolo almost seemed reflective as he spoke. It was almost like he was attempting to determine the differences between my father's and Vegeta's abilities and what the chances of victory would be. "He may be able to defeat them, indeed…"

Trunks, who was already upset over Vegeta's departure and blatant refusal to listen to his warning, became more irritated after listening to Piccolo's words. "No! **I** can turn into a Super Saiyan, too—but I was **still **powerless! That's how powerful they are!"

I could tell that he was definitely getting angry, probably because things were not going according to plan. "I'm going after him!" He continued, not even pausing to consider the consequences. "He's a fool—but I'll never let Otou-san (2) die again…!" Then it was his turn to take off into the sky.

"…Otou-san…?" Bulma asked in absolute shock as she recovered from Trunks' sudden departure. "Did he say '**Otou-san**'? Wh-what did he mean…? Was his dad killed by the androids too…?"

"I can't believe him!" I then snapped as I threw my hands into the air, causing everyone who was left to stare at me. I was absolutely furious. "After warning me time and time again not to say anything that could possibly mess with the time stream even more than necessary, he goes and says the biggest clue! **AHO! (**3**)**" After breathing heavily, I began to mutter angrily, ignoring all the looks I was getting.

As I continued venting, Piccolo looked at Bulma. "There's no point in keeping it a secret anymore. His name is **Trunks**. His father is Vegeta." He then pointed at the baby in her arms. "Yes. He's **that** baby, grown up. He's **your son**."

"**WHAT?**" she yelled as she stared down at her son. "So **that's** what it was…"

Kuririn seemed like he was just as surprised. "Now that you mention it… there is a resemblance…" he told us in a dumbfounded voice. "…and that sure explains why he can turn into a Super Saiyan…"

Piccolo then turned towards us. "Come look for Dr. Gero's lab with me. It might be better to destroy it and the androids first after all." We all agreed.

"Well…" Bulma said as she ignored our conversation. She was holding her baby out in front of her in an approving way. "At least I know that you're gonna look **hot** when you grow up! I was worried! I mean, you're such a **mean**-looking baby!"

She then looked over at me. "Hey, Goshi-kun, you've been around my son a lot! So, is he the heart-throb that I think he is!"

Although I really was not expecting to be recognized, I just stared at her blankly as I considered the question. Did Trunks have girlfriends…? I had absolutely no idea, but if he did, why didn't I know! I mean, we were together enough that he would probably have said something on the subject… unless I was right in thinking that his main priorities were training, protecting me, and defending what he could of the earth.

"Bulma-san…" Gohan's voice distracted both of us. I was thankful for that. "Could you let Tou-san know about this…? And that we need him when we get better…?"

"Sure. But how am I going to tell him?" she asked. "My plane exploded."

"Gohan, you take them," Piccolo told my brother. "We can handle the androids by ourselves… if we're in time."

"O-okay… be careful then…" My brother then turned to me. "What about you, Goshi?"

"Huh?" I asked in a slightly confused voice. I was still irritated and the only thing that had actually been thinking about in the last few minutes was what I could possibly do to knock some sense back into Trunks.

He rolled his eyes. "Are you going after the androids too?"

"Since neither Mirai-kun nor his Tou-san appear to be in control at the moment, I think I should go help." The irritation in my voice was very clear.

"'Mirai-kun'…?" Although Gohan's voice was confused, there was a slight accusing tone within it, and it made me blush.

"…That's what I call Trunks-nii… Anyways," I said after a slight cough to get us back on track, "I've already fought these things before. It might be a good idea for me to go over fighting techniques with them."

"Then let's go!" Piccolo shouted after Gohan reluctantly agreed with me. "We have to find that lab before Vegeta!" We then took off and followed Piccolo's lead.

…

As we traveled, Piccolo asked me different questions about the artificial humans, and I answered then to the best of my abilities. Trunks would be the better person for this because he had dealt with these things for almost his entire life, but since he was being foolish, I had to cover for him. The only good thing was that I knew enough about their personalities and fighting styles to be of some assistance.

By the time that we were able to see the mountains surrounding North City in the distance, Kuririn had already asked if it was a good idea to allow me to come. Without hesitation, I told him that I was going no matter what. I was then asked if I knew the danger, and I just glared at him. He probably thought that my actions were nothing more than childish pride, but I knew the danger, which is why I had to go.

"Dr. Gero's lab is in a cave in the mountains around here, right?" Tenshinhan asked as we reached the city. "But how do we find it? It's **all** mountains here…!" I silently agreed. There were hundreds, if not thousands of mountains surrounding the city.

"We'll have to spilt up and search…" Piccolo told us. "Give a signal when you find it."

After complaining about how cold it was, Kuririn asked what kind of signal we should give. Piccolo told us that we should just increase our chi at a rapid rate. We were then about to leave when Kuririn asked Tenshinhan if he had any money to buy a jacket. Tenshinhan just told him to ignore it, while Piccolo shook his head and muttered that "Earthlings are so… **inconvenient**."

Right before we split up, Kuririn decided that it would be a good idea if we each take some of the senzu beans. He was having difficulty figuring out how to evenly split the six beans between the four of us, when I told him that I would not require any.

"Wh-what…?" he asked me in a surprised voice. "Don't you want to play it safe?"

"It's not necessary," I replied with a shrug. I then thought about it for a moment. "Well… at least not now… If Juunanagou and Juuhachigou get activated, then they'll be needed."

"You mean you're not worried about running into Dr. Gero?" Tenshinhan asked in a shocked voice.

"Why should I be? I mean, if Vegeta-san is being over-confident about the entire thing, it probably means that he took care of the other artificial human that Mirai-kun and I saw earlier with relative ease. That means that Gero is nowhere near as strong as the others." My voice was calm, and I thought that I was being rational.

"If he doesn't want to take any, let him go," Piccolo grunted. He was getting irritated that we were wasting so much time. I nodded and took off towards the base of one of the mountains.

…

I searched for… I don't know how long… but I did not find anything, and it was making me frustrated. Suddenly, I felt Kuririn's chi spike, and I knew that he had found the lab. I immediately hurried over to his location.

When I got there, everyone, including Vegeta and Trunks, had arrived. Trunks seemed to be worried about what could possibly happen, and seeing me did not make it better, especially because he had assumed that my brother and I were going to stick together after our reunion.

"Goshi-kun… why are you here…?" He asked me; I could tell from his tone that if we were not in a potentially dangerous situation, I would be scolded. "Where's your brother?"

"Gohan took Bulma-san home," I told him as I purposely ignored his first question. I then turned to Kuririn, "I take it Gero's about to activate the artificial humans." He nodded nervously, and it was possible to tell from his expression that he could not understand why I was being so calm.

Piccolo and Vegeta were growing impatient. Seconds later, Kuririn and Tenshinhan were trying to break down the heavy metal door that was keeping us out of Gero's lab. I watched in slight amusement as they just kept ramming into it without any success. All the while, I was ignoring Trunks, who kept trying to tell me to go home. I was going to stay there no matter what.

After several failed attempts, Piccolo decided that he was going to take over attempting to destroy the door. He immediately raised his hand to try a chi blast and paused for a moment. Vegeta snickered and asked him to make sure that he did not destroy the artificial humans so that he could go after them.

I just glared at Vegeta. He was absolutely getting on my nerves! Sure, the feeling of invincibility after becoming a Super Saiyan is really pronounced, but there is a point when it is taken too far! He was going to get himself killed just because he was too hyped up on his new found strength that he was failing to recognize the danger.

I then looked at Trunks and felt somewhat bad for him. This was only the second time he had encountered his father, and it was the first time he had really been allowed to see what he was like. From what I had seen, Trunks was going to end up not liking his own father just because of how he was being at the moment.

Although, in retrospect, Vegeta never seemed to be… that likable… in any situation, so it just puzzled me how Bulma could deal with him, let alone have a son!

"_Juunanagou!_" someone shouted behind the door. I heard the concern in the voice, which is what pulled me out of my thoughts. "_Stop kidding around and defeat the enemies outside the door!_"

"The… the androids… they've been activated already…!" Kuririn stammered.

"Goshi-kun, get out of here!" Trunks hissed at me. My expression told him that I was not moving, which just irritated him. "Do you think this is a game? Go somewhere safe while you still can!"

"AHO!" I yelled at him, which caused everyone to stop and stare at me. "Haven't we encountered this problem before? I am not going anywhere. You are not making me go anywhere. And, why should I go somewhere else when I've been helping you fight these same androids in **your** time for **six years!** Besides, if they're exactly the same as the others, then I won't be safe no matter where I go!"

Vegeta then growled. "MOVE OUT OF THE WAY, FOOL!" He had enough of the delay and apparently, he really wanted to fight those androids.

NO!" Trunks warned him. "We have to get **out** of here—for now! We can wait until Goku-san gets better and then-"

His words were cut off by his irritated father. "Forget it!" He then blasted the door, causing all of us to brace ourselves. Thick smoke filled the cavern where we were standing.

Once it cleared, we could clearly see Gero, Juunanagou, and Juuhachigou. I heard Trunks take in a quick breath of air. His worst fears were realized, and so were mine: Juunanagou and Juuhachigou were activated and we probably were not going to be able to stop them.

…

After all of their careful preparations, Trunks and Goshi are staring at the two vary things that they had attempted to prevent from ever surfacing in the present. Will they be able to stop the carnage that is to come or will the present turn into the past anyways? Find out on the next heart-stopping episode of dragonballz!

* * *

1 I feel that I should just point this out… Dr. Gero was a scientist for the army, not a general. I have absolutely no idea what the dubbers were thinking when they came up with that (and I hope that gets altered in Kai).

2 Otou-san is just a respectful way of saying father.

3 Aho is the 'rural' way of saying idiot and because it is a regional word, it is being placed in here. It is very rude to call someone from a city region this, and since Goshi is rather angry at this moment, she's not going to think about being nice to her mentor.


	15. First Impressions

There was just a moment were all of us just froze and stared at the now activated artificial humans. Juunanagou and Juuhachigou looked exactly the same as the ones from Trunks' time, and the same fear that I had felt when I first encountered them had begun to resurface.

"Is that them?" Vegeta demanded. "They better be the right ones this time."

"Yes…!" Trunks hissed.

"**Those** are Juunanagou and Juuhachigou…?" Kuririn sounded absolutely surprised.

"Don't let their looks fool you!" Trunks cautioned. "They're deadly!"

"It's them…! The friends of Son Goku I told you about!" another artificial human, one I did not recognize, yelled. I assumed that he was Dr. Gero, the one who was to blame for creating those loathsome creatures. "Don't let them catch you off guard-they destroyed Juukyugou (1) and almost killed me!

"Juukyugou?" Juunanagou asked. He seemed slightly amused. "So you caused **another** of us to die, did you? And you talked him into turning you into an android? What type was he? An energy absorption model?"

"Well…" Gero seemed to be slightly nervous. "Yes…"

Juuhachigou then laughed. "Why did you go back to your old energy absorption design? Because **we** infinite energy models were too powerful to control? But because of **that**… you lost!"

"…Too powerful to control…?" Kuririn repeated.

"It doesn't matter!" Gero then snapped at his creations. "Just kill them now!"

"We'll kill them when we want to." Juunanagou seemed to be absolutely unfazed by Gero's commands or worries. Gero did not respond to that very well.

It was odd… as I watched him, it just seemed like there was something that made him different from his counterpart in the future. If I had to guess what it was, I would have said that his personality was slightly different. He seemed… more human (if you can call an android that) than the other one. But that was a ridiculous thought. Why would he be any different?

"Juurokugou (2)…?" Juuhachigou then asked as she examined a pod-type device in the lab. "This is also an **infinite** model, isn't it? But he's not like us."

"DON'T TOUCH THAT, JUUHACHIGOU! JUST BACK OFF!" Gero was absolutely frantic. What was it about this other android that made him more afraid of it than us?

"Juurokugou…?" Trunks then repeated faintly. I could hear the hint of terror in his voice, and I could not blame him. Both he and I knew what happened when two androids were let loose on the world, and adding a third one to the mix would just make it that much worse! "I never heard of a **Juurokugou**!"

"Interesting," Juunanagou said, even though his voice did not show any underlying emotion. "Start him up, Juuhachigou."

"STOP! YOU MUSTN'T! DO YOU WANT TO RISK DESTROYING THE WHOLE WORLD?" Gero warned them. I was surprised; this was the man who created androids to decimate the population of earth, but he did not want to see the planet destroyed. It sounded hypocritical to me.

"JUUROKUGOU WAS AN EXPERIMENTAL MODEL AND A FAILURE!" he continued. "DON'T ACTIVATE HIM!"

"You've left him around quite a while… for a **failure**," Juuhachigou told him. She almost sounded smug. "You disposed of all the rest up through Juugo (3)…"

"I…I was going to fix him later…! JUST DON'T ACTIVATE HIM! YOU'RE GOING TO KILL US ALL!"

"Um…" Kuririn said, in an attempt to get our attention. "You think maybe we should make a run for it while they're arguing…?" I was actually surprised by his nervousness. He did not appear to be earlier.

"Go ahead…" Vegeta told him, in a voice that absolutely irritated me. Such arrogance! "Nobody can handle these things except me anyways."

"Running won't help anyways," I told him. "If they're the same, they'll just come looking for us." My words seemed to just worry Kuririn further.

"Killing **us**?" Juunanagou laughed. "But I have a **much** higher power rating… Don't worry, Juuhachigou. Open it."

"Do you have to defy everything I say?" Gero demanded of him. "You're just like Juurokugou! Failures! I'll deactivate you **all**!"

"I destroyed the controller."

"YOU THINK I CAN'T MAKE ANOTHER ONE?"

A curious notion came to my mind at this time. If, just if, Gero could make this 'controller', then maybe the nightmare would be able to end without much, if any, bloodshed. After everything that I had seen in the future, it would be such a welcome conclusion.

But, at the same time, it would not help Trunks' time, unless we would be able to get our hands on that controller. But, if he could, he would be able to bring the peace that they had longed for.

Something then clicked, which distracted me. I looked over to see Juuhachigou playing with something on Juurokugou's pod. "**DIDN'T YOU HEAR ME?**" Gero yelled. "**DON'T PRESS THAT SWITCH!**"

It then happened so suddenly; I doubt that anyone saw it. Juunanagou had put his hand through the location that would have housed Gero's heart. After he removed his hand, Gero turned to glare at him. "Wh-what are you…?"

His words were cut short as Juunanagou beheaded him with a kick. The head then rolled over to where we were standing. "D… damn… pieces of junk…" the head hissed before Juunanagou came over and shattered it with his foot.

"Heh…" Juunanagou gave us a sly look before he stood up and walked back towards Juuhachigou. He clearly did not see us as a threat.

"My god… he killed his own creator…" Kuririn, as well Tenshinhan, was completely shocked. I could not blame them; for a human, seeing something like that shakes their core values.

I just could not stand to watch how Juunanagou killed someone else, even if it was someone as vile and inhuman as Gero. After the incident three years ago, I had been lucky in not seeing too many other deaths, and if I did, it was nowhere near as horrible.

"So what?" Vegeta asked us. "If you don't like someone, you'll kill him. It's the Saiyan way, too. You earthlings have the strangest inhibitions." After that comment, I just wanted to be allowed to kick his butt!

"Now," Juunanagou said to Juuhachigou, "press the switch."

"No you don't…" Trunks hissed. "I won't let there be any more androids…!" Without any warning, he transformed into a Super Saiyan and fired a huge blast towards the androids. We were barely able to get out of the way in time.

It was clear that the mountain was just about completely demolished. I just watched the heavy smoke from the explosion float into the air as we waited to see the results from the sky.

"_Yow!_" Kuririn was still recovering from the shock of Trunks' sudden blast. "Why don't you warn us before you do that…?"

"What was that for, idiot!" Vegeta demanded of his son. "That was pointless…!"

"Pointless…?" Trunks could hardly hide his surprise.

"Take a look over there."

All of us looked over and saw that Juunanagou and Juuhachigou were still standing, apparently unscathed. Juuhachigou was even holding the pod that held Juurokugou, showing us that yet another android survived the blast as well. Everyone, except for Vegeta, was stunned.

"Like I said. **Pointless**," Vegeta reiterated.

I then looked at my mentor and asked him something that was bothering me. "Mirai-kun… if that attack doesn't work on the Juunanagou and Juuhachigou from your time, why did you do it?"

"…" He looked as if he was trying to locate the words for a reply, but before he found them, the androids distracted us. Juuhachigou had pressed something on the pod and had kicked off the lid. Seconds later, the third android stood up and gazed at his surroundings.

I was surprised by this new one. He looked nothing like the others, mainly because he was so tall. All of the other androids were rather short in stature (although I was not one to talk). The other thing was that there seemed to be something different about his personality, but it was difficult to determine since we were so far away from them.

"S-so that's Juurokugou…" Kuririn stammered. "W-we're in trouble… aren't we…?"

I heard Trunks give a low growl. "I… I don't know…" he told him through his teeth. "I've never **seen** this one before…"

Nothing else was then said as we watched the three androids. They appeared to be doing nothing other than talking, but we still needed to be on guard. Then, they suddenly just flew away. It was surprising because they did not pay any attention to us as they left. That was something that surprised me; the androids from Trunks' time would have purposely come after us. There was definitely something somewhat odd occurring.

"They… they took off…" Kuririn sighed in disbelieving relief. "Thank god…"

"B-but where are they going…?" Tenshinhan asked, obviously confused. "What are they doing?"

"Evidently they won't be attacking North City… It's the wrong direction." Piccolo was just as puzzled.

"GOKU!" Kuririn then yelled. "They're going to Goku's house! Gero's goal was to punish Goku for destroying the Red Ribbon Army, remember?"

That got my attention. "B-but Tou-san's sick!" I said urgently. "He's not going to be able to fend them off if they get to him before he recovers!" For the first time in a while, fear gripped me. I could not lose my father! I barely got to know him… and I had promised myself that I would go home and be part of the family once again when this was all over. That could not happen if he was not there!

"But they **rebelled** against Dr. Gero…" Tenshinhan pointed out, in an attempt to ease Kuririn's, as well as my, fears.

"Who… gives a damn?" Vegeta hissed, causing all of us to stare at him. "**I**, Vegeta-sama (4), was right here-and they **ignored** me! Did they think that I wasn't worth their **time**? The fools…" He then transformed into a Super Saiyan.

Trunks immediately attempted to keep him from going after them. "You mustn't go after them!" He warned Vegeta. "Be patient… please wait, just a little while!"

"You mean until Kakarrot gets better?" I could just tell from Vegeta's voice that it would be better if Trunks did not answer the question… but that did not happen.

"Kakarrot…?" Trunks asked, being unfamiliar with my father's real name. "You mean Goku-san? Y-yes! We'll never win unless we all fight together, including Goku-san!"

"Heh heh… you've got the wrong idea…" Vegeta actually seemed amused. "It's not the **androids** I hate the most! It's Kakarrot! I'll beat them **myself**-with no help from him! And after that… I'll kill Kakarrot at last. Now stay out of my way!"

"Th-that's insane!" Trunks yelled at him. "You can't do it by yourself! You'll just be going to your **death**!"

"MIRAI-KUN, MOVE!" I yelled at my mentor, having seen the warning signs. Unfortunately, it was too late as Vegeta punched him in the chest. Then, without a second thought, he took off after the androids.

I immediately went over to help him, if he needed it. "You need to work on that, Mirai-kun…" I told him carefully. He glared at me, which caused me to sigh dramatically. "You don't want your Tou-san to hate you, do you?"

He just continued to glare.

"Do you think that we should go after him?" Kuririn then asked him.

"Yes…" he hissed. "He doesn't deserve it… but he's not going to be able to handle them by himself and will more than likely be killed if we don't assist him…"

"Than let's move!" Piccolo then took off after Vegeta. I had to hand it to him; he did not like dealing with unnecessary speaking. The rest of us then followed him.

…

By the time that we had reached the mountain road where Vegeta and Juuhachigou were fighting, it was clear that quite a fight had occurred, and it was not anywhere near finished. Right before we landed, we watched as Juuhachigou threw Vegeta into the side of the mountain, via her palm.

"VEGETA-SAN-ARE YOU OKAY?" Trunks yelled. His words actually amused me, mainly because he was calling his father by his first name, and he was so awkward when saying it.

Vegeta then emerged from the hole, with an amused smirk on his face. "Little… pests… You think **you** stand a chance…?"

"H-hey!" Tenshinhan then stammered. "Juunanagou is coming this way…!"

"Vegeta-san, we have to get out of here!" Trunks pleaded. "There's no point in **pride** if you get yourself killed! Please, I beg you!"

"You're not going to get through to him…" I tried to tell him. He just motioned for me to stay out of the way.

"You want another beating?" Vegeta demanded. "Get out of my sight."

Juuhachigou laughed. "You can run away if you want," she told Vegeta. "We're not interested in those who run." That caught me off guard; that is the opposite of the androids in Trunks' time. They would purposely hunt down those who fled to create sport for themselves.

"You must be joking," he told her. "I was just about to finish you off. Don't associate me with **them**. I'd rather **die** fighting alone than join hands… with Earthlings and Namekians… and **Kakarrot**."

I just stared at him. Was it truly possible that he was _that_ foolish? If he did not see the light soon, he was going to end up dead.

…

As Vegeta explains that he is going to continue to fight the androids alone, the others watch on as they attempt to completely understand his reasons. Will he be able to succeed in stopping the artificial humans, or will he fail as Trunks foretold? Find out on the next action-packed episode of dragonballz!

* * *

1 Juukyugou is android number nineteen.

2 Juurokugou is android number sixteen.

3 Juugo means 15. In this instance, Juuhachigou is only referencing the number instead of an individual.

4 Yeah… he calls himself Vegeta-sama at times like this. Oh, and "sama" is a very respectful suffix.


	16. Differences

I just stared at Vegeta after he was done with his speech. How could he believe that it was possible for him to destroy the artificial humans when his son, who is a Super Saiyan as well, could barely hold his own against their counterparts from the future?

The only thing that I could possibly see as a reason for his beliefs was his arrogance. I had heard that Vegeta was actually quite intelligent, but so he should not have been behaving like that. But, that intellect was clearly being overshadowed by _something_.

As I thought about what else could possibly be preventing him from listening to any of Trunks' warnings, Juunanagou began to clap. From what I could tell, he was doing nothing but complimenting Vegeta's speech. "Nice speech," he then told him. "That and those fighting skills… you're a Saiyan **prince**, all right."

Vegeta replied by spitting some blood out of his mouth. "I don't need a **puppet's **praise. You're just a brat under that armor."

"All of you-listen!" Juunanagou was purposely trying to get our attentions. "I know you respect the code of the warrior… so I don't expect anybody to interfere with Vegeta and Juuhachigou's match. But if you do, then I'll have to butt in."

Vegeta just snickered at him. "They're pacifist worms. You don't have to do anything to stop them from meddling." Trunks immediately had to grab hold of my shoulder to prevent me from going over and yelling at his father. I was **not** a 'pacifist'.

"Are we going to continue?" Juuhachigou then asked Vegeta as she ignored everyone else's reactions.

"Of course." Vegeta actually seemed pleased that the fight was not over yet.

"That's the spirit." Juuhachigou then rushed her opponent and nailed him with right hook. She then pursued him as he was sent flying backwards. Vegeta managed to right himself before he connected with the nearby cliff and used it to propel himself back towards Juuhachigou for a more powerful version of a head butt. He then knocked her into the cliff and fired a chi blast at her before she could stand.

Vegeta landed as the smoke from the blast began to clear. It was revealed to us that Juuhachigou was still standing, although her clothes had definitely taken a beating. "You're still not hurt…" Vegeta told her. "This is pissing me off…!"

"I never thought any organic being could fight like this… even an alien," she replied as she removed the jean jacket that she had been wearing. "Is Son Goku better than you?"

"Hell no!" Vegeta's answer was harsh and immediate. "He slipped ahead of me for a while, but now I'm back where I belong!"

"Oh. Then I don't really have to worry about… either of you."

"Say **what**?" Vegeta then attempted to kick her, but it was blocked. From there, volley after volley was exchanged between the two of them.

"Y-yes! Do it!" Tenshinhan yelled as we watched the fight. The rest of us had been primarily quiet as we had watched, but after Vegeta's display of power, the possibility of actually winning had crossed some of our minds. Personally, I just had the feeling that things were about to go horribly wrong.

Apparently, I was not alone. "…He's going to be killed," Piccolo suddenly told us, which caused alarm. "Look… the android is slowly wearing him down. It never loses any power, but Vegeta loses stamina with every move."

Our attentions immediately turned back towards the fight. It was clear that Juuhachigou was beginning to take the upper hand. "N… No…!" I heard Trunks hiss as he watched. It was then that a kick from Juuhachigou connected with Vegeta's left arm; all of us heard it break.

That was Trunks' cue to act. Without warning, he transformed and began reaching for his sword as he flew towards them. "**TOU-SAN!**" (1)

"MIRAI-KUN! STOP!" I yelled as I watched him. I wanted to go after him, but Piccolo pulled me back.

"Don't you get involved either," he warned me before he turned back towards my teacher. "That idiot…" It was then that Juunanagou moved to follow Trunks, which caused Piccolo and Tenshinhan to follow him. "Damn him!" Piccolo yelled.

At first, I was going to follow after them, but something held me back. It took a while for me to pin point what it was, but as I watched Juuhachigou break Mirai-kun's blade on her arm and knock him back, I realized that it was fear.

"D-down in one shot…!" Kuririn, who was standing next to me, stammered. "A… a Super Saiyan…!"

"Mirai-kun…!" I hated to see him get hurt, but it did not seem like there was anything that I could do. That fear confirmed what my eyes were telling me; these androids were much stronger than their future counterparts. Just by seeing how ineffective a Super Saiyan's attacks were against these monsters told me that even if I could find an opening and strike, it would not change a thing.

I just watched as Juunanagou knocked Piccolo down with kick and put Tenshinhan into a headlock. "IDIOT!" I heard Vegeta hiss as he attempted to move to help him, which I found slightly unusual. He was unfortunately stopped by Juuhachigou, who had grabbed his leg.

Trunks had recovered a bit, and when he noticed that his father was in trouble, he moved to attack Juuhachigou. She was aware of his movements, and swung Vegeta into him before he got too close.

Piccolo then went to help Tenshinhan, who was immediately dropped when Juunanagou saw him approach. After dodging Piccolo initial blows, Juunanagou struck him in the chest. It was a critical blow, which put the Namekian out of commission.

As Piccolo fell, Vegeta found the strength to get back into the air and fire another blast at Juuhachigou. She dodged it and countered with another right hook, knocking him back to the ground. She followed him and kicked him.

"I'd better disable your other arm, too," she told the prince, and she did just that. This break was just as audible as the first, and shortly afterwards, he returned to his original form.

"Hm. The glow faded…" Juunanagou noted as he watched. "And his hair changed back… All very weird. The **other guy** was like that too. We never had any data about who he was… Well, whatever." He and Juuhachigou then flew back to where Kuririn and I were standing.

"Don't worry, they're all still alive," Juunanagou told us. "You'd better feed them the senzu fast. It heals them completely, right? Tell them we'll play with them any time they feel up to it. See ya." He then began to walk away.

My eyes immediately narrowed. They were different! In the future, the only way to get out of a situation like this was to hide until they left. These one… just left everyone alive just so that they could have some playthings! Or, at least, that is what it seemed like they wanted us to think, which made me exceedingly suspicious.

"You're not going to ask where Son Goku is?" Juuhachigou asked Juunanagou as she ignored both Kuririn and me.

"Don't worry." His voice was unconcerned. "It's more fun to take the time to search yourself. Besides, maybe he'll come after **us** if we cause enough trouble."

"Sheesh, men," Juuhachigou told him as the moved towards Juurokugou. "You will never ask for directions."

Kuririn and I stared at them as they walked away. I was expecting them to come back after us, while Kuririn seemed to be caught between fear and confusion.

"What are you looking at, Juurokugou?" I heard Juunanagou ask the large android.

"The birds flew away because you were so noisy," he replied.

"…Birds…?" Juunanagou's response was exactly the same as mine. That was not something that you expect from an android, especially after everything that I had seen them do. Their conversation then changed to them figuring out a way to locate a car they could use.

When they mentioned that it would be preferable for them to locate a town, Kuririn ran towards them, telling them to wait. I reluctantly followed him.

"What do you **want**?" Juunanagou asked him.

"W-what exactly **is** it you want?" Kuririn demanded of them. "Is it to kill Goku… or take over the world?"

"For now, we just want to beat Son Goku. We'll think about what to do next when we get there."

"B-but **why**? Why go after Goku? **Dr. Gero** was the one who hated him… and you **killed** him!"

"It's a game to them, Kuririn-san…" I told him through my teeth. I was very familiar with their motives. "They want to kill Tou-san because they think it will be **fun**…"

"Son Goku's the strongest being on earth, right?" Juunanagou added in agreement. He then looked more closely at me. "You're his son, right? Why didn't you jump into help you friends? He would have."

"There's nothing that I could have done…" I admitted while forcing the words out through my teeth.

That was not something he was expecting and just chuckled. "Smart kid."

"A… game? Y-you're doing this just for a **game**…?" Kuririn stammered.

Juunanagou turned his speculative look away from me before he answered. "That's why I said you don't need to tell us where he is. Finding him for ourselves is part of the game."

"E-even if I begged you not to…?"

"It doesn't matter," Juurokugou told him. I immediately got the feeling that his personality was the least human out of the three. "We were created to defeat Son Goku."

"…You heard the machine," Juunanagou told us. "You better go feed senzu to your friends. They'll die."

"Later," Juuhachigou told us. She then moved towards us and kissed Kuririn on the cheek. She then glanced at me, as I had cautiously backed away from her, and smiled. "Bye." The three of them then took off. Kuririn and I then gave the others the much needed senzu beans.

…

"What…? They even knew about the senzu beans?" Piccolo demanded after Kuririn had filled him in on the conversation with the artificial humans.

"Then wh-why didn't they finish us off…?" Tenshinhan asked.

"They didn't feel we were worth killing. They couldn't care less if we live or die," Piccolo explained, which irritated me since he was slightly off. "…Small wonder… They're incredibly strong… **too** strong… I never imagined…"

I just rolled my eyes. "If they kill us now, they wouldn't have anything to play _extensively_ with later. Normal humans are _too_ easy of a kill for them," I told them matter-o-factly as I crossed my arms. I caught Trunks glaring at me as he picked up his ruined sword.

It was about then that Vegeta just took off. Trunks was about to follow him when Piccolo warned him not to. "He finally recovered his long-wounded arrogance when he became a Super Saiyan… And then he got his insides kicked out by a woman. Or at least an android that looks like one. He won't be in the best mood."

"I… I'm sorry…" Kuririn apologized. "I got scared and couldn't even face them…"

"Forget about it," Piccolo told him. "Trunks was a Super Saiyan and **he** was felled in one blow… You would've made no difference."

"This is the being who killed **Freeza**…" Tenshinhan said as he looked at my teacher, who was decisively looking at the ground. "And even **he** was powerless against the androids… We've got to face facts! Goku is powerful… But he's not so different from Trunks or Vegeta! We can't win! Not even with Goku…"

"…They were… a… a little different from the androids I knew…" Trunks then told them. "Those ones weren't… **that** terribly strong… I… I could put up a decent fight by myself…"

"Trunks-nii… do you think it's possible that they found out about the artificial humans too early?" I asked carefully as an idea was beginning to form. I purposely used his real name so that he would actually pay attention to me.

Trunks looked at me critically. "What do you mean, Goshi-kun?"

"Well…" I said, a little unsure of how to begin my theory. The notion had just come to me, and it was still forming. "I _your_ time, it took a while for everyone to learn of the artificial humans, let alone locate them..."

"And…?"

I fidgeted a bit. "Well… what if Dr. Gero and that other android appeared in your time first as well… that means that Juunanagou and Juuhachigou were released at a later date… which would give Gero more time to work on the two of them and possibly lowering their strength…" (2)

"So, you're saying that because we told them about the androids, Gero didn't have the time to alter these androids the way the ones in the future are?" His eyebrow was raised, and it sounded like he doubted my thoughts.

I looked at him helplessly. "I don't know… It just occurred to me… and well… could it have happened…?"

He frowned as he considered it. "…We may have miscalculated…" His expression changed slightly, "How could we make such a mistake!" I could hear the pain beginning to form behind the irritation.

"Hey! Thinking about it isn't gonna help much," Kuririn told him in an attempt to calm him down. "There's really nothin' we can do about it now."

"…It's hopeless…" Tenshinhan then said as he began to turn his thoughts towards the future, which drew our attentions. "What are we going to do now…?"

"You hurry to Son Goku's house and move him somewhere else," Piccolo told us. "We can think about our options after he gets better."

"Y-yeah…" Kuririn agreed. "…And what are you going to do, Piccolo?"

"Who knows…" His answer was odd, and he had hesitated before saying it, which made it worse.

"Wh-what's that look on your face?" Kuririn persisted. "Do you have a plan? C'mon, tell us! We're your friends!"

"Friends?" Piccolo hissed at him. "Don't press you luck. When do you think I became your friend? I'm a demon! Don't you ever forget that! I'm using you-to take over the world!" He then took off into the sky.

"R-right… He used to be the **Great Demon King**… I'd completely forgotten…" Tenshinhan mentioned as he continued to look in the direction where Piccolo had gone. "And all this time he's still been plotting…"

"…Gohan's teacher was **evil**…?" I asked in a very confused voice. I had been given very little information on the Namekian in the future so this was all new to me.

Kuririn just chuckled slightly, which caught everyone's attention. "I think 'taking over the world' is a pose. He's just like Goku and Vegeta. He just wants to be stronger than anybody else, that's all… new he's gone to figure out his last resort… his trump card…"

"What…? What's this 'trump'…?" Tenshinhan asked. Trunks and I were just as confused.

Kuririn then pointed towards the direction where Piccolo went. "He flew that way… Do you know what's there?"

"That way…? I can't think of anything… Have I been there?"

"It's where Kami-sama lives."

"Kami…? What do you mean…?"

I was just as confused. Kami meant 'god', so my mind was telling me that, somehow, Piccolo was going to go meet God, but that was impossible. But Bulma had mentioned a "Kami-sama" before as well… but I tended to assume it was just part of some religious thing. I then looked at Trunks, and he gave me a look that told me that he would explain things to me a little later.

"The Great Elder of Namek told me that if Kami-sama and Piccolo hadn't split in two, they… **he**… wouldn't have lost to the Saiyans," Kuririn continued. "So I think he went to become the single entity that he used to be."

"W-what?" Tenshinhan asked, astounded.

"Kami-sama, god of good… and Piccolo, lord of evil… are gonna become a single Namekian warrior again. But Piccolo's improved over the years, so he'll be an amazing fighter. If Goku's a Super Saiyan… Piccolo'll be the Super Namekian!"

"B-but then there'll be no Kami-sama… and won't the dragon balls disappear…?"

"Yeah… prob'ly. But if Piccolo or Kami-sama gets killed, they're gone anyways." He then paused for a moment. "If Piccolo's really givin' up his identity… then he must really feel cornered… that's how scary these enemies are… He used to hate everything about Kami-sama."

"I am so… _confused_!" I then complained, which made Kuririn and Tenshinhan laugh.

"What do you think my Oto… I mean… **Vegeta's** going to do?" Trunks then asked them.

"You don't have to hide it anymore," Kuririn told him. "We all know you used to be the baby Bulma-san was carrying. Vegeta's the only one who doesn't know."

"What? I… I see… I'm sorry."

"There's no need to apologize," Tenshinhan told him. "Vegeta isn't the one to run away just because he lost once. He's pride personified. I'm sure he'll come up with some devastating new attack… and face the androids again…"

We all agreed, and shortly afterwards, we took off into the sky.

…

As predicted, the androids easily beat our heroes, only these ones were even more powerful than the ones from the future. As everyone begins to take steps to close the difference between them and the androids, the future in front of them becomes cloudier. Will they be able to succeed? And what about Goku? Will he recover from his illness in time to fight? Find out next time on Dragonballz!

* * *

1 Trunks actually says "Dad" instead of "Father" here, which is why I used the less formal version of the word.

2 This is my theory as to why the androids in the different time lines are so different from each other.


	17. Discovery

We had been in the air for a while when Kuririn asked Trunks how long it would be until my father would be well enough to help. Trunks told him that it should be about ten days, hinting at the fact that it could be much longer. Since Tenshinhan and Kuririn were unfamiliar with the disease, they did not understand just how much damage it could do.

From living in Trunks' time, I had gotten to hear accounts of those who had known someone who had contracted it. Death was a sure thing for someone who did not get to the hospital in time, or if the disease was misdiagnosed as a heart attack. Then, depending on how long it took for the medicine to be administered, a person could be in recovery anywhere from a couple weeks to months. I just wanted to know that my father was fine and would be up soon.

The conversation then changed as they began to mention that they were glad that the artificial humans could not sense our chi. It soon became silent again as worry regained control.

We had traveled in silence for a while when Tenshinhan told us that he was going to let Chaozu know what was happening and would return to us shortly. Kuririn agreed and told him that we would be at Master Roshi's house. Tenshinhan then left, but not after letting us know that if father were to get better before he arrived that we were to tell him not to do anything until he gets better.

Kuririn then mentioned that he wished that he could believe that my father could do anything, which is something is something that I know he once did. That caused Trunks to start questioning himself and why everything was so different. I would have loved to have argued with him, but that was not the immediate issue, at least for me. We were going to my house… and I would see my mother, not the one from the future, for the first time in six years.

…

Soon we were passing over scenery that was familiar to me. Although I had never seen it from the air before, every field, every tree was familiar. In a way, it was complete relief to know that everything that I had left was still here, but it also terrified me. I was going to see my mother in only a few minutes, and I was so afraid of the meeting. Would she welcome me with open arms? Or would she do the exact same thing as her counterpart in the future?

"There it is. That's Goku's house," Kuririn told Trunks as we descended. I was almost positive that I was shaking by the time we had landed. I honestly wanted to run and not have to face the woman lurking behind those walls.

"S-say… I have a question…" Kuririn asked my Sensei before we reached the door. "Th-those androids… they're definitely bad guys, right?"

"What?" Trunks almost demanded. "…They'll devastate the world… at least in **my** time… Why?"

"N-nothing. I was… just hoping maybe they weren't." He sounded unusually flustered.

Trunks was definitely was looking at him speculatively. "There's no hoping for the absurd."

"I know, I know! It just crossed my mind, that's all…!" Kuririn then relaxed and knocked on the door.

"Is that you, Gohan-chan?" someone yelled happily as the door flew open and hit Kuririn. I recognized the voice immediately and hid behind Trunks' legs. It was childish, I know, but I really did not want my mother to notice me.

"Huh? Oh, it's you, Kuririn," she said after she realized that her son was nowhere to be found. She did not even apologize to him for hitting him with the door!

"H-hi," Kuririn told her, almost irritably. "This is Goku's wife…" he then whispered to Trunks.

"Pleased to meet you," Trunks told my mother as he bowed. He knew far better than to get on her bad side.

Mother was confused by him; possibly do to his polite greeting. "Huh? Who are you?"

"Kuririn! You're safe!" someone yelled as he came into view. If my memory served me, he was Yamcha, but since it had been so long, I was not completely positive. "I was so worried…!"

Kuririn just ignored his concern. "How's Goku?"

"He's fine. He took the medicine and he's sleeping now." He then noticed my Sensei. "You're that kid from the future… Wait! Did you beat the androids?"

"No…" Trunks replied hesitantly.

"From the future…?" Mother then repeated before recognition set in. "IT WAS YOU!" She yelled as she approached Trunks threateningly. "YOU'RE THE ONE WHO TOOK MY BABY AWAY FROM ME! HOW DARE YOU SHOW YOUR FACE HERE!"

"Ah…" Trunks had absolutely no idea what to say as he backed away from her. I think that he was just about as terrified of her as I was.

"WELL?" Mother demanded of him, ignoring how awkward the situation was. "WHERE IS SHE? WHERE'S GOSHI-CHAN?"

As Trunks was fumbling around for words, I moved in front of him to prevent Mother from possibly trying to hurt him. "I'm here, Kaa-san. Stop yelling at Mirai-kun!"

I highly doubt that I could completely explain the changes in her expression. I just know that it went from anger, to shock, to something beyond my comprehension. Then, without warning, she swept me into her arms and began to cry.

"My baby!" she sobbed as she stroked my hair. She then pushed me away from her so that she could study by appearance. "You've changed so much!" She then paused for a moment before she glared, "You look just like your father." I think that I was too stunned to reply.

"Wait… back up, what about the androids?" Yamcha asked, finally getting over the shock of my mother's reaction.

"Oh, right! I'll give you the details later, but we have to move to Muten Roshi-sama's house right now! All of you!" Kuririn warned.

"What?"

"Three new androids… more powerful ones… are heading this way…"

"…Oh… my god…." Yamcha was at a complete loss for words. Then, a moment later, all of us were moving my father and supplies to a jet so that we could leave.

"**More** powerful…?" Yamcha asked when we were almost done. "That's insane…!"

" 'Powerful' doesn't begin to describe 'em," Kuririn tried to explain.

Once we were inside the jet, Kuririn told us that the only thing that was left for us to do was to wait for Gohan to return from taking Bulma home. It took a few more minutes (which were incredibly uncomfortable since Mother did not want to let me out of her sight) before he returned, and once he touched down, Mother hurried him into the jet and we took off.

…

As we flew, Kuririn explained the situation to Yamcha (I now had confirmation who he was), Gohan, and my mother. Everyone was rather shocked and had no idea what we could do.

"H-how about this… I go further into the past with my time machine… and destroy them before they're activated…! …We know where Dr. Gero's lab is now…"

"It's not going to work, Mirai-kun…" I rolled my eyes as I rested my head against the wall of the jet. He glared at me.

"…Why wouldn't it work…?" Yamcha asked.

I sighed audibly, but before I could speak, Kuririn did. "…Wait… Trunks, didn't you say the time machine isn't perfect? …And Goku told me it takes a long time to charge it for the trip and back. Will you be able to get back to the future after going further in the past?"

"…I don't know…" Trunks admitted.

"Umm… I was thinking…" Gohan interrupted hesitantly. "If Trunks-san does go to the past and destroys the androids… What's going to happen to the androids in the present? Are they going to disappear?" I was a little surprised that he was being civil, but it could be explained away by Mother's presence. She would not stand for it if her son was being rude.

"Oh… that's right…! The future of **that** timeline would be saved from the androids… but there'd be no change in **this** timeline, where the androids already exist!"

"…? Wh-what do you mean?" Kuririn asked, clearly confused.

"I can explain," I told him. I then extended my hand towards Father, "As you can see, Tou-san's still alive, but in Mirai-kun's time, Tou-san still died from the illness."

"In other words," Trunks interrupted, not knowing that I was not finished with my explanation, "there's both a future in which Goku-san has died… and one in which he lived. Each change in the past creates new futures."

"W-wait a second…" Kuririn was stilled confused by something. "Then… even if Goku defeats the androids here… wouldn't they still exist in your future?"

"…That's right…"

"Then… what was the point of you coming to the past?" Yamcha asked. "Your future isn't going to change!"

"Kaa-san said… it's so horrible what the androids did to us… That there deserves to be a peaceful future where they've been destroyed," Trunks told them. He seemed to be slightly embarrassed.

"He was also wanted to see if he could locate a weakness," I told them. "Or… possibly take Tou-san to his time to defeat the androids."

"Are you going to let me tell _my_ story myself?" he asked me irritably. I just smiled and motioned for him to continue. He sighed. "Anyways… I've come to a past that's slightly different from the one I knew. The timing of Goku-san's illness was different… there are three androids, and they're much, much stronger…"

"…B-but **why** is it different?" my brother asked him.

"I don't know…" Trunks kept his head down while he spoke, although he did give me a quick glance. It was to tell me not to mention my theory. I am assuming it was either because it could not be proved, or he did not want to feel like he had made a mistake again.

"Don't worry yourself about it," Mother told him calmly. I eyed her suspiciously seeing as I knew from her previous reaction that she did not trust my mentor. "Goku-sa would've died if you hadn't come! I'm thankful for that!" Ah, so that was it; Mother's love of Dad outweighed most of her hatred towards him, at least at that point.

She then looked over at me. "I guess it's also safe to say that Goshi-chan wouldn't be here too if it wasn't for you."

Trunks and I exchanged a glance before I looked off to the side. "I-it wasn't until Gohan-san told me about her, that I found out that he had a sibling," he told her. I could hear a slight hesitance in his voice, and I was not exactly sure why. Was there something else to my story that even I did not know? "From what I know, Kaa-san was the only other person who met her."

"Really?" Yamcha asked, clearly interested. "But why? What happened?"

"I would like to know that as well." Mother's voice was harsh and there was a slight demanding tone in her voice.

I began rubbing my damaged hand, a nervous reaction. "I-if it's okay with you, I-I'd rather not discuss it…" I told them as I began to have flashbacks of that day.

I then felt a hand ruffling my hair. "It's okay, Goshi-kun," Trunks told me quietly. He then looked over at Mother, "Goshi-kun… doesn't exactly like to remember what happened. Even I'm not too sure what happened to him before I got there." (Mother gave him a dark look when he said 'him')

That made everyone a more curious, but after asking me several questions that remained unanswered, the conversation gradually shifted away from my past and back to the issue at hand. Nothing else that was said registered as being important to me for quite some time.

…

"We'll be at Muten Roshi-sama's house soon," Yamcha told us. "Say Kuririn, maybe you should tell Bulma what's happened."

"I… I guess…" he said as he began to climb into the passenger seat. "…But why do I have to be the one to call…?" He then turned to Trunks. "Your Kaa-san always bites people's heads off…"

He laughed. "She's still the same in the future."

"Um… My name's Kuririn. Is Bulma-san there?" he asked after dialing a number on the plane's built-in phone. He was put on hold for a moment before he was told she was on. "Hey, Bulma-san? It's me, Kuririn."

"**KURIRIN?**" she yelled. Even if the phone was not on speaker, I have a feeling that we would have been able to hear her quite well. "**SO YOU FINALLY DECIDED TO CALL?**" She then calmed down slightly, but I mean _slightly_. "WHERE ARE YOU CALLING FROM? I CALLED CHI-CHI-SAN AND SON-KUN'S AND NOBODY ANSWERED! HEY! IS MY GROWNUP FUTURE **SON** THERE?"

"Huh?" Kuririn was caught a little off guard by that one. "Oh… yeah, he's here…"

"HE IS? GREAT! COULD YOU PUT HIM ON?"

"Just go ahead, we're on speakerphone."

"A few days ago, our company got a call from a farmer out in the west," she told us. She was speaking somewhat fast, which made me think that she was excited by something. "He was hiking and came across some weird abandoned vehicle. He was going to take it home… but he couldn't figure out how to operate it, so he called us to see if we could help."

"Y-yeah…?" Kuririn asked, wondering where this story was going.

"But we couldn't figure out what model it was over the phone," she continued seemingly without hearing him. "I said it didn't even sound like ours, but the guy said it has the **Capsule Corp.** logo on it. So we told him to send us a picture… I just got it, and I was floored! It was Trunks-san' time machine! And it's wrecked!"1

"WHAT?" Trunks nearly demanded as he stood up and began reaching for the capsule that held his time machine. "N-no way…! That can't be… I have it in capsule form right here."

"Trunks says **he** has it," Kuririn told her.

"Yeah…" Bulma told him. "That's what I thought… so that isn't the one he found… I **thought** it was weird, because moss and stuff are growing on it and it looks really old. Hey, how many time machines did I **build** in the future?"

"How many…?" Trunks asked in near disbelief. "You were barely able to make **one**…"

"Yeah? Weird… 'cause this is definitely the same thing… I've seen you in it before, you know. Say, so you have a fax there? I'll send the picture."

A few moments later, the picture was faxed over. Kuririn immediately handed it to Trunks, who was beyond shocked. "Th-there's no mistake… this **is** my time machine…" he told us after staring at the picture for a moment. That surprised all of us.

"D-does she know exactly where it's located?" he asked.

I then gently tugged his jacket. "May I see?" He ignored me.

"Bulma-san-do you know exactly where the time machine is?" Kuririn asked Bulma.

"Not it's precise location…" she told us. "I think it's somewhere in the **Western 1050** district. Are you going?"

"Hai!" Trunks responded almost immediately. "I have to see it with my own eyes."

"Then I'll go too. It's not that far." They then said their goodbyes.

Yamcha then turned to Trunks. "You're sure there's only one time machine?"

"Yes. I'm positive," he told him.

"Um… maybe I could help. Can I come?" Gohan asked my Sensei. That one caught me a little off guard. I knew that my brother did not exactly like him.

"Of course! Thanks," Trunks told him.

"Gohan-chan…!" Mother was clearly concerned about her son's safety.

"Don't worry, Kaa-san," Gohan told her. "We're not going anywhere dangerous."

Trunks then turned to me. "Are you coming as well, Goshi-kun?"

"That depends," I told him coolly. "Are you going leave me behind again?"

"I wouldn't leave you behind if you weren't so slow," he joked.

"H-HEY!" I yelled at him as he moved towards the now-open door, laughing. Without a second thought, I followed him out of the plane. My brother quickly followed.

…

What's this! There's another time machine out there! What's the story behind this mysterious development and what could it mean for our heroes? Find out on the next episode of dragonballz!

* * *

1 The Bulma from the present isn't nearly as close to her son as the one from the future is. And is seen to use 'san' as a suffix when addressing him.


	18. Shell

"Stop sulking, Goshi-kun," Trunks told me after we had been flying for a while. I was still irritated at him for making fun of me and somehow getting me out of the plane/jet thing without my consent. I had spoken to him for some time, so my reply was to glare at him darkly instead of speaking.

"Um…" Gohan said hesitantly, as he tried to get Trunks' attention. "Has your future world been that badly affected… by the androids…?" I looked at him cautiously since I knew that he did not like Trunks very much, probably because of me. This attempt at having a civil conversation was definitely suspicious to me.

"Yes… the population of the world… is in tens of thousands…" Trunks did not seemed bothered in the least bit by my brother's actions as he focused on explaining a small piece of his past. "**West City** has been all but demolished… We hide out in underground shelters…"

I heard my brother gasp slightly. "I didn't realize… I hope you find their weakness…" He then looked over at me with wide eyes. "And you actually lived there, Goshi!" I shrugged in reply.

"…Those androids were defying Dr. Gero's orders…" Trunks continued paying little attention to my brother's comments. "It was clear he thought they were failures… but he activated them anyways because he had no other choice… and in the end, they killed him." He then paused for a moment. "Gero must've known how dangerous they were during the testing stages… the questions is… how did he stop them at that point? …I'm thinking he has some kind of emergency **off** switch… would he have tried to turn them on again without one…?"

"…Yeah… I get it…" Gohan told him hesitantly. "There must be a switch!" I raised an eyebrow at him at that point. It seemed like he was slowly warming up to my Sensei… but that could just be a ploy.

"…I only **hope** there is…"

I made an irritated noise as I looked at Trunks. He gave me a rather startled expression, to which I replied, "You decided to look exactly like your Tou-san for a moment… and that man just irritates me!"

Gohan laughed at me. "He does that to a lot of people."

Trunks allowed himself a smile before he looked at the watch on his wrist, containing a form of a global tracking unit, and announced that we had finally arrived in the region that contained the so-called time machine. We then split up and looked for the mysterious machine.

"THERE IT IS!" Gohan yelled after a short time. "GOSHI, TRUNKS-SAN, I FOUND IT!"

"Yes! Good eye, Gohan-san!" Trunks told my brother as he landed. I was only a moment behind him.

I was rather surprised as I looked at the machine that was standing behind my brother. It did have a striking similarity to Trunks' time machine, but something seemed really out of place with it. There was moss (at least I thought it was moss) all over it, showing that it had been there for quite some time. Also, it was in the strangest position. Trunks would usually try to land the thing somewhat close to the location where we would be needed… but this was in the middle of nowhere! It made no sense!

It was then that we heard a noise, most probably from a flying machine, somewhere above our heads. "That must be Bulma-san!" my brother said happily. "I'll go flag her down."

I frowned as I watched him go. "He's… unusually cheerful about all of this," I told my Sensei. "And I really can't place why."

"Is it really so out of the ordinary?" he asked, clearly not understanding the reason for my concern.

"At first I thought he didn't like you… now, I don't know what to think…"

"I guess so…" His voice was still unconcerned. "People's views change all the time." I shook my head, he had absolutely no idea how stubborn the people in my family could be.

…

"Hello, Trunks-san! It's your beautiful Kaa-san!" Bulma told her future son as she came over to us after getting out of her plane. Trunks hesitantly greeted her.

He then pointed over at his time machine (which he had brought out to show us for comparison). "Take a look," he told us. "That's the time machine I had in capsule form."

"Oh!" Bulma was quite surprised. "So this isn't yours then…" She was speaking of the other machine.

"N-no… you only made **one** machine in the future…" He then touched a specific place on the old machine. "This is **also** my time machine!"

"…But how could that be…?"

Trunks then brushed away some of the moss on the machine, revealing the word "Hope!" I felt my eyes grow wide when I saw that. "B-but you wrote that the day we left…!" I said in a hushed voice.

"…B-but… I don't understand…" Bulma told us as she placed her hand on her chin. "It seems like this machine has been here a long time…"

Trunks, Gohan, and I then floated upwards so that we could get a better look at the upper portion of the machine. The first thing that the three of us noticed was that there was a large hole in the glass covering. "This hole…" my brother said in a questioning voice. "Weird… It looks like it was melted at high heat… and from the **inside**…" I agreed with him.

"Are you saying… that someone was in it…?" Bulma asked.

"Or… some_thing_," I added. Something about the situation was very wrong and getting more wrong by the moment.

"L-let's try opening it…" Trunks told us as he reached for a button on the machine that was near where my brother was floating. "Excuse me…"

The glass dome opened slowly, and it seemed very shaky. I frowned; that pointed towards the notion that it had not been used for a while. I bit my lip as my mind formed an idea that was caused by the unassuming implication of the machine. If this was here… that meant that Trunks might be in serious trouble in the near or far future. That did not sit very well with me, but I was not going to voice any of my concerns.

Once the dome was completely open, Trunks entered it and happened to notice that there was something odd in the machine. It was similar to a walnut shell, except completely round, spikey, much larger, and in two perfect halves. "What is that…?" my brother asked him as he held it in his hands. "…It's not a coconut…"

"It… does look like a shell though…" I mentioned, just as puzzled by the strange thing.

"What-?" Bulma asked, somewhat startled. "Let me see!" She was then handed it. After a moment of examining it, she said that it was some kind of egg.

Gohan and I shared a look. Both of us had been in the forest enough to know what an egg, whether it was from a bird or reptile, tended to look like. It was sure as hell, not that, and we told her that.

"W-was it whatever **came** from the egg… th-that made this **hole**…?" Gohan asked as he examined the hole again.

Trunks then began working with the main computer in the time machine. "…The batteries are nearly out of power…" he told us. "It came from… **age 788**!"

My eyes grew just as wide as his, perhaps more so. "T-Trunks-nii… that's… that's three years later than when we left!" Bulma and Gohan both expressed their surprise.

"It came here…" he continued, "about… four years ago… It was here for a whole **year** before I came the last time! Wh-what came from the future… and **why**…? Is **this** the reason… that history has changed so much…?"

…

We debated about what to do next for a moment before Trunks decided that he would return both time machines to their capsule forms. After he did that, Bulma picked up the strange egg shell and said that she would take it with her.

"We're all going to Muten Roshi-sama's house," Gohan told her so that she would know where we would be afterwards.

"The Kame (1) House?" she asked, rather surprised. "Why?"

"Um… basically, the three androids are on the move and are coming after Tou-san's life."

"And since he's sick in bed, they figured that the best place to hide him would be there," I continued absent-mindedly. Gohan glared at me for interrupting him.

"Why don't you guys just beat them up?" Bulma asked. That surprised me more than anything; from what I understood from Gohan, Bulma wanted everyone to get ride of the artificial humans before they were activated to prevent bloodshed.

"We tried that," I replied before anyone else could speak.

"I wish it were that easy," Trunks told her with a great sigh as he put the capsules into their container. "Tou-san, Piccolo-san, Tenshinhan-san, and I all tried… but we couldn't do anything."

"…_Wow_… they're that tough…?" Bulma's face then grew concerned. "…So Vegeta's all right? Did he go to the Kame House too?"

"He was saved by the senzu beans…" he told her. "But he wouldn't go along with everyone else…"

"Stupid, pig-head jerk!" I muttered to myself as I remembered the scene. I was really starting to dislike Trunks' father, and mentioning him made my blood boil. Don't ask me why, but I was beginning to blame all of this on him. It was irrational, but I really did not care by that point, and it felt good to blame _something_.

It was then that we noticed that my brother had noticed something. Bulma asked him what was up, and he began to walk over to a place that was partially hidden by a rocky outcrop. "Just… wondering what that is…" he told us. After he moved closer to it, he urgently called us over.

We ran over to see a huge, strange looking thing lying on the ground. It really freaked out Bulma!

"…A giant bug moult (2)…?" I asked, since that is the only think that could be used as a suitable comparison.

"Is it d-dead?" Bulma asked. Clearly, she had not spent much time outdoors.

"It's b-big… whatever it is…" Trunks was a city person too, just like his mother.

Gohan examined it closely for a moment. "It's not dead…" he told us. "It's like an insect molt… like Goshi said."

"An insect?" Bulma exclaimed. "Is there a cicada this big? …Around here…?"

"A cicada only gets about this big," I told Bulma as I used my hand to show about eight centimeters. "Although they're big in terms of other bugs, they still don't get _that_ big. They don't share that shape either." My brother agreed with me.

"It's probably… what came out of the egg in the time machine," Trunks told us.

"Yeah… and it grew up and… moulted…" Gohan continued.

"Wh-what do you mean?" Bulma demanded of him. "Wh-what came out of this thing?"

"I… I don't know," my brother confessed. "I've never seen anything like this…"

"Neither have I…" I told her.

"But how did it get here…? Did someone send the egg in the time machine…?" Bulma was clearly puzzled. "Or did someone come here with it…?"

Trunks then placed his hand within the molted shell. Upon withdrawing it, we noticed that it was covered with a slimy substance. It turned my stomach. "Eww…" and that was about all I could say without showing more of my revulsion.

"It hasn't… been long… since it came out of its shell…!" my Sensei told us.

As Trunks, my brother, and myself looked around to check for any potential movement, Bulma freaked out. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" she asked us in a nervous voice. "Level with me… are you getting a **bad** feeling about this?" We agreed. She then motioned that she really wanted to get back to her plane. "W-we better get out of here! So you're going to be at the Kame House? I'll call you if anything happens!"

She then ran to her plane. "COME VISIT IF YOU EVER GET ANY TIME, TRUNKS-SAN!" Bulma called out as she left. The rest of us then flew back to the Kame House.

…

It did not take us too long to get to the Kame House… and it was then that I realized that I had never seen this house before. It actually said 'Kame House' on it, which made me chuckle. I was definitely also amused by the fact that the external portion of the house was painted pink.

"We're back…" Gohan said as he opened the door. Trunks and I followed him. "Oh, Master Roshi-sama. Hi."

No one answered us as they (Yamcha, Kuririn, and an elderly man, who I assumed was Master Roshi) had their eyes glued to the television. All of them wore a serious expression.

Kuririn then turned and beckoned us over. "You three… L-listen to this news story! Tell us what's going on…"

"News story?" Gohan and I repeated as we moved towards the television.

"_What was that?_" an older looking newscaster demanded as he looked over his shoulder. "_We just heard a scream!_" Gun shots were then heard in the background. "_Gunshots! We heard gunshots! Members of the investigative team and the police are shooting at something-! What's going on…? …It's gone suddenly quiet again… If we can take a closer look and see what's happening…_" It was then that the newscaster made a look as if he had seen something, and then the video cut out.

"Wh-what happened?" Yamcha demanded. "Turn to another channel!"

Kuririn quickly changed the channel and it was clear that something had happened. The camera was lying on its side and the news team was nowhere to be found. I also noticed that there were some clothes lying on the ground, which seemed really out of place. We could hear calls for help in the background as well.

"Th-the screaming stopped…" Kuririn noted, for lack of something better to say, as it went silent again.

After a moment, Trunks then began to explain what we found at the other time machine. Everyone unfamiliar with it was utterly surprised. "Th-this is the thing that came out of that skin…?" Kuririn demanded once Trunks was finished.

He nodded. "I… I think so. It was right around that area." His face then became quite serious. "…I… I'm going to go and check it out." Yamcha and Kuririn then tried to object. "I'll be okay," he told them. "I can be come a Super Saiyan. The ones I need to fear are the androids."

"I'll go too!" Gohan shouted, which made me stare at him. It seemed completely out of place.

"Gohan-chan!" Mother yelled, scaring me. "You are **not** going!"

"B-but Goshi's going!" he argued as he pointed at me. I had been slowly trying to sneak to the door without being noticed, but I froze in place as soon as my brother ratted me out. I then looked over at my mother, who was glaring at me. I flinched.

"I'll be fine by myself," Trunks told us, particularly me. "You guys stay here to protect Goku-san from the androids, just in case." I wanted to argue with him, but a steady look prevented any words from escaping into the air. He then moved towards the door. "I know where to go. So then… I'm off…"

Trunks had barely taken two steps out of the house when all of us were overwhelmed by a huge chi. It was so strange; it felt various forms of familiar but it was foreign at the same time. "H-Hey!" Kuririn shouted as he ran out of the house. "What **is** this…? I've felt this chi **before** somewhere…"

"Freeza… and his Tou-san…" Gohan said, his voice shaking with fear.

"And Goku-san… and Piccolo-san… and even my **Otou-san**!" Trunks was just as stunned. His eyes were the widest that I had ever seen them.

"I feel it too…" Yamcha stammered. "But… but that's impossible! Freeza and his Otou-san were both killed!"

"And our Tou-san's still in bed!" Gohan and I told them. We had also stepped outside and had floated upwards so that we could get a glimpse of the window of the room where Dad was sleeping.

"It's coming from the direction of…" Trunks just left his thought drift off.

"Yeah… Ginger Town" Kuririn seemed to understand. I assumed that Ginger Town was the name of the place we had just seen on the television. "Where those people just disappeared."

"I'm going to go check it out," Trunks told us firmly. "I have to know what monster came out of that **shell**!"

"Mirai-kun… please be careful!" I nearly pleaded with him. I knew full well that my mother was not going to let me go with him, no matter what I did; and I knew that he would not let me go either, but that did not mean that I was not going to worry.

"I'll be fine, Goshi-kun." He then suddenly grinned at me. "Besides, if worse comes to worse, you can always come save me at the last moment. You know, the usual."

"It's not funny!"

He just chuckled and flew off, leaving me incredibly irritated. "What did he mean by that, Goshi-kun?" Kuririn asked me in a stunned confusion.

"I had managed to help get him out of some rough situations before… and somehow it became a joke…" I then threw my hands up in the air in frustration. "He's such a jerk!" I then marched back into the house.

…

What is this mysterious new threat? Can Trunks handle it? Or is it something that is even more powerful that the androids? Tune into the next exciting episode of Dragonballz to find out!

* * *

1 Kame means 'turtle," and if you remember, Master Roshi is the 'Turtle' hermit.

2 This word is the same as 'molt', and I think that this is just a location difference. Where the one used is more like the British spelling of the word. Yes, there are differences between British English and American English.


	19. Impatient Waiting

It took a while for me to actually calm down after Trunks and Kuririn (he decided that he wanted to go too and left a little after Trunks) left, but once I did, I sat down in a corner and concentrated on the strange chi that all of us could sense. Moments later, it became clear that there was another presence at Ginger Town along with the first one. This other presence had chi similar to Piccolo's... but it was not exactly the same, making me unable to place it.

I looked to my brother for confirmation, and a simple nod told me that his interpretation was the same as mine. And, for both of us, it was completely irritating! We had no idea what was really happening, since sensing chi is an imprecise art, and we had no idea who was winning or if those who were fighting were friend or foe.

Soon after, we noted that Kuririn, Trunks, Vegeta, and Tenshinhan arrived at the battle site, and that the first chi that we had felt, the one that seemed to be everyone's, had disappeared. It was so confusing! It was about then that I swore that Trunks was not leaving me behind again!

Then Vegeta just took off somewhere by himself, Trunks and Kuririn set off in a different direction, and Tenshinhan and Piccolo did the same. Nothing was really making any sense, but there was little time to ponder it as Mother decided that she wanted me and Gohan to help her take some things up to our father and then we were to study.

As soon as Mother went into a different room, I groaned. I hated studying!

Gohan stared at me with wide eyes. "Y-you mean you actually did homework in the future?" he almost demanded.

"What? Did you think I got out of it?" I asked him, to which he nodded. "I wasn't that lucky." We had little more time to talk after that as Mother began yelling for us.

…

It was not until about three days later that Gohan and I were finally told what happened. The two of us and Yamcha had been picked up at the Kame House (because they needed to use the television to find a location) so we could help search for something called Cell.

From what we were told, Kami-sama had sensed Cell, which was the creature who seemed to have everyone's chi, and decided that he and Piccolo should become one being again. After that happened, the fused being (who still retained Piccolo's appearance) went to go fight Cell. That then explained the second large, unfamiliar chi that we sensed.

After a slight bit of fighting, the fused being let Cell believe that he had the upper hand so he could get him to talk. It worked, and it turned out that Cell was an android, who was also created by Dr. Gero and was from age 788, making him from a future beyond Trunks'. His main goal was to absorb Juunanagou and Juuhachigou so that he could become complete, but when he went to find them, Trunks had already killed them.

So, to deal with that, he managed to sneak up on Trunks in his time, kill him, and steal his time machine. The machine was already preset to come back, but Cell had to revert to his egg phase to fit inside the machine. The time machine then sent him back to a year before Freeza arrived on earth. He then waited underground for four years until he could re-reach his current form and set out for the androids again.

Cell also revealed that he was created from the cells of the greatest warriors on earth, which is why his chi was the way he was. Also, to become strong enough to absorb the androids, Cell needed to absorb the life-force of countless humans. Once, Piccolo had enough information, he moved to end the fight, but Trunks and Kuririn arrived. That seemed to worry Cell a little, which caused him to perform the Taiyo Ken attack (1) so that he could get away, and he did.

Then Vegeta and Tenshinhan arrived on the scene, and Piccolo explained what had happened to everyone. After he finished, Vegeta decided that he was going to train on his own; Kuririn and Trunks were going to go to Gero's lab and try to find some sort of clue to a way of stopping the androids; and Tenshinhan and Piccolo were going to look for Cell.

Kuririn and Trunks actually did manage to find the blueprints for Juunanagou while they were at Gero's lab, and once they were done, they destroyed it and the Cell (that was still in the process of being created) from this time. Once they were done, Kuririn went to deliver the blueprints to Bulma, and Trunks went off on his own.

"So, tell me again why Mirai-kun's not here..." I told Kuririn in a voice that did not hide my irritation as we were heading towards the location where Cell was last seen in a plane, hoping that it would not notice that we were coming. It was really bothering me that my Sensei did not come back to the Kame House.

He sighed. "He's trying to train with Vegeta," he told me, somewhat pleadingly so that I would calm down.

"Vegeta-san doesn't want anything to do with him!" I nearly shouted. "How does he think that he's helping anyone?"

"I don't know, Goshi-kun... But worrying about it, here, is not going to help." I grumbled to myself a bit more after that, but I said nothing else out loud.

…

I am not exactly sure how much later it was (since it occurred... probably within the same hour) when my father appeared out of nowhere in the plane. It scared me rather badly since I was **not** expecting that to happen... and I did not even know that my father could teleport, if that is what he had done. While I was recovering from the shock, everyone else emphatically greeted him.

"H-how'd you get here?" Kuririn asked him almost immediately. "You teleported?"

"Yup," Dad told him.

"You all better then?"

"Yup. Hungry, though." I could not help but chuckle at my dad for that one. He was always hungry, but I do not think I could explain how much of a relief it was to see that he was alive and well.

Dad then looked at Piccolo, "Kamiolo? Or Picami?" he asked. I guess he knew that Piccolo and Kami-sama had fused, but who told him?

"Don't merge the name too!" Piccolo told him almost immediately. "I'm mostly Piccolo anyway... Just call me that."

Dad just smiled. "I don't think I could beat the androids or Cell the way I am now." That was the last thing that I expected to hear from my father! "I'm going to go train with Gohan and Goshi. Where you can train for a whole year in one day..."

"The **Chamber of Spirit and Time**! (2)" I guess that Piccolo understood what my father was talking about, since it sounded like an impossibility to me. "Of course... but nobody has been able to stay for the whole year in that room. You could barely stand a month in your youth."

"I'll take Vegeta and Trunks too," Dad told him, completely unbothered by the past. "They'll be able to handle it."

"You better go quickly. Cell is killing many people and gaining power..."

Dad nodded and extended his hand out to me and my bother. "Gohan... Goshi, take my hand." Both of us hesitantly complied.

"Goku, tell us," Kuririn requested before we left. "This thing's even stronger than Freeza. Are you scared by that? Or excited?"

He thought about it for a moment before he replied, "...Both." And, as soon as he finished speaking, the scene in front of me disappeared.

Not even a second later, the scene reappeared... but we were definitely no longer in the plane. We were in some desolate area, and Trunks, who looked surprised to see us, was sitting on a nearby rock.

"GOKU-SAN!" Trunks shouted, rather surprised by his random appearance.

"How's the training going?" Dad asked him in a cheerful voice.

"It's no use... My Otou-san looks at me as just a mistake." Trunks then looked over at a cliff where Vegeta was standing. "...He's just stood there for the past three days."

"...Vegeta's a genius all right..." That was another thing that I would have never expected my dad to say. "He's starting to **see** beyond Super Saiyan power." He then floated over to where Vegeta was standing.

"Do you have any idea what he means?" Trunks asked us, after Dad was out of earshot.

Gohan shook his head and turned to me. "Goshi, do you know...? Wait, what's wrong? You're eyes are huge!"

I looked at him in disbelief. How was he so calm? "I feel like I just relived my first trip on the time machine... That was shocking enough in its own right. What did Tou-san just do?"

He just began laughing. "You didn't know that Tou-san could teleport?"

"He can...?" That did it; my father was now able to do anything.

"OH! That's right! You weren't there when he showed us!"

"Apparently..."

I think that Gohan was going to make fun of me for being so shocked, but he was unable to do so as he and Vegeta came over. Dad then said that we were going to be leaving by way of teleportation. In light of that, I just latched myself onto him leg and waited for it to be over.

…

"I don't think I like that, Tou-san," I told my father as soon as we reached our next destination, and I let go of his leg. He just chuckled and ruffled my hair. He then went to go speak with a strange man, who was completely black-skinned, that was standing rather close by.

I looked around as they spoke. We seemed to be rather high in the air on some sort of tiled platform. Behind us, there was a structure that reminded me of a palace. I wanted to explore it, but that idea was pushed aside as the strange man asked us to follow him.

"It comes with a bathroom with tubs, beds, and enough food," the strange man told us as he led us down a corridor, which Trunks, Gohan, and myself were amazed by. "Good luck."

"Kakarrot..." Vegeta eventually said. His voice seemed to ring with suspicion. "Why are you suggesting I do this too...? My eventual goal is to kill **you**."

Dad was unbothered by him. "We probably can't beat this enemy alone. I'm sure you know that too."

"...You might regret this later..."

It was about then when the strange man stopped in front of a door. "Here we are. Who will go in first?"

"Vegeta and Trunks." Dad told him confidently.

"...Thanks for letting us go first, Goku-san..." Trunks told him as the door was opened.

"Good luck! Try to get along."

"Good luck, Trunks-nii!" I waved as Dad pushed me and my brother back down the hall. He smiled at me before he followed his father inside the room. It actually felt odd to watch him like that... I mean, it was the first time since I could remember that the two of us did not train together.

…

It was rather boring as we waited for Trunks and Vegeta to come out of the room. Nothing really interesting happened until about a full day later.

I guess that Juurokugou, Juunanagou, and Juuhachigou had found the Kame House as Piccolo took off from that location to a nearby island and began fighting someone or thing that we could not sense. That seemed to really upset my brother, who began running to the edge of the platform so he could go help.

"GOHAN, WE WON'T BE ANY HELP!" Dad yelled, which frightened me. He yells so infrequently that you forget that he has that capability. "WE'RE NOT IN THE SAME LEAGUE! WE'LL JUST END UP GETTING IN THE WAY!" That seemed to catch my brother's attention as he stopped.

"Vegeta and Trunks'll be coming soon," Dad continued in a softer tone, "way stronger than before! It'll be okay! And give Piccolo some credit- he's an incredible fighter, now."

We then fell silent as the battle continued. Minutes later, we felt something heading towards the fight: Cell. That definitely caused us some worries, especially because Piccolo began fighting him moments later.

Cell was clearly stronger than before and it showed in battle. It was clear that Cell was more than a match for Piccolo and it tried to finish him off. My father and brother were almost frantic when they could no longer feel his chi. And then, it was clear that there was a little more fighting before Cell's chi exploded. He must have absorbed one of the androids.

Then, Tenshinhan entered the fray. He repeatedly used some sort of attack that was able to keep Cell from moving, but it was taking a huge toll on his body and that was worrying Dad.

It then seemed like Cell was going to try to kill Tenshinhan, but Dad teleported to the scene and prevented that. A moment later, he returned with Tenshinhan **and** Piccolo. Both of them were in poor shape, but were soon fine after they were feed a senzu bean.

Piccolo then explained to us what he had just witnessed and confirmed that Cell absorbed Juunanagou. It was then that the strange man, who's name I had finally learned: Mr. Popo, appeared and told us that Trunks and Vegeta had finally come out of that room.

We went over to take a look at them. I was almost startled when I saw Trunks; his hair was much longer than before and it was partially pulled back into a low ponytail and his clothes showed signs of wear. He was also a bit taller than before. I had the strangest sensation when I saw him... and I have this suspicion that I was blushing. Oh, and Vegeta looked absolutely the same.

"Sorry to keep you waiting," Trunks told us.

"You sure took a while!" Dad told them, ignoring the fact that my Sensei looked different than before.

"Otou-san broke the **Super Saiyan **barrier in the first two months. But he still wasn't satisfied with his power, and kept going..."

"Trunks! That's enough!" Vegeta told him harshly. I was actually somewhat surprised that Vegeta used his name.

"So it worked, Vegeta?" Dad asked him.

"Who knows?" he replied with that irritating smirk of his. "...But it would be pointless for you to train inside... Because **I'm** going to destroy Cell **and** the androids!" His declaration really shocked Piccolo and Tenshinhan.

"I just got a look at Cell after he absorbed Juunanagou. He's a **monster**," Dad told him. Vegeta just smirked.

"Hey!" a female voice then called out. "Is everyone here?"

"That's Bulma-san's voice!" Gohan said, and sure enough, once we went outside, we saw her. Dad was rather surprised to see her, to which she said that Kuririn said that we would be here.

Bulma then noticed her son and ran over to him. "Wait a minute! Aren't you Trunks-san?" Once he nodded, she began feeling his hair. "Why is your hair all different? Is this a wig? And you've gotten taller!"

He was clearly taken back by her actions. "Um… There's an odd room here where you can spend an entire year in the span of one outside day. Otou-san and I were training in there."

"Huh…!" She then looked over at Vegeta. "But Vegeta's hair didn't grow out any."

"Pure-blooded Saiyans have thankfully been spared the grotesquery of 'hair growth'," he told us. That pretty much surprised everyone, including Dad. Vegeta then grew angry. "Why are we talking about **hair**? Bulma, why did you come here?"

"Oh yeah." I guess she had forgotten her purpose for a moment when she had seen her son. "Those battle suits I made before that boost your defenses. I made one for everybody and brought them over." She then pulled a capsule out of a container and allowed it to open, revealing a strange containment unit.

I then determinedly looked the other direction as my father, my brother, Trunks, and Vegeta changed outfits. Once everyone was generally dressed, I happened to notice that the armor seemed to almost be natural on all of them. I guess it's a Saiyan thing.

"You're not going to use them?" Bulma asked Piccolo and Tenshinhan as they made no move to claim any clothing.

"How can Piccolo-sama wear the same costumes as Saiyans and Freeza's men?" Piccolo then asked her.

"C'mon, they're just clothes," Dad told them. "And they're really easy to move in."

"As I said before, Kakarrot-you'll only be wasting that suit! You won't be seeing any action!" Vegeta told my father rather smugly.

"Because you'll defeat Cell, right? Well, I wouldn't complain."

"Well, what about you, Goshi-kun?" Bulma asked, which distracted me from watching the unsaid challenge between my father and Vegeta. I was rather startled as I looked at her. "Now, you can't tell me that you won't wear the suits because of who originally wore them. You're part Saiyan too, you know."

My eyes widened as I realized that this was getting to be awkward. "That has nothing to do with it!"

"Then why?"

I foundered around with my words for a while as I stared at her. She clearly wanted me to answer her before I was allowed to go anywhere. "I-it… it's because… I'M A GIRL!" I shouted so that I could just get it over with it.

"W-what?" most other people yelled at me.

"You can't be serious!" Bulma told me as Trunks began stifling his laughter.

"Unfortunately, I am… MIRAI-KUN! WILL YOU STOP IT?" I demanded of him.

"I can't help it…" he told me. "It just seems so perfect, somehow."

"Well, I sure as hell don't believe it," Vegeta scoffed, and in all honesty, I could not blame him. I did not look like, sound like (I never really developed the higher pitched voice that other girls have), or act like a girl.

"Just watch, I'll be scrawny when I grow up!" I told him, making it almost sound like a promise. That just made Trunks laugh harder.

Piccolo then made an irritated noise. "While you're here having fun, Cell could be absorbing Juhachigo as we speak." That seemed to get everyone's minds back on the task at hand. Vegeta then flew off, after refusing to let Dad teleport him to the scene.

Trunks was then about to leave as well, but Dad handed him some senzu beans first. He then wished he good luck and warned him to get out of there if it got too dangerous.

"You better not get hurt, Mirai-kun," I told him as he thanked my dad. "It feels weird that I'm not going with you…"

"I know what you mean." I was surprised that he actually agreed with me. He then raised his hand in a gesture of farewell and took off. It was then that Dad began pushing my brother and me towards the Chamber of Spirit and Time.

…

Now that Vegeta and Trunks have come out of the Chamber of Spirit and Time, will they be able to defeat Cell, now that he's become more powerful than before? Or will Cell get to Juhachigo and absorb her first? And will the Son family training be too little, too late? Find out on the next exciting episode of dragonballz!

* * *

1 Taiyo Ken means fist of the sun and is the actual name for Solar Flare.

2 The Chamber of Spirit and Time is the same thing as the Hyperbolic Time Chamber.


	20. The Chamber of Spirit and Time

I was absolutely speechless when I followed my dad and brother into the Chamber of Spirit and Time. It looked like we were in a furnished room, but there was something really intimidating about it. It just gave me the impression that I somehow was not on earth any more. Also, everything was white.

"It's all white in here…" Gohan said, mimicking my thoughts. "I… I feel heavy… and it's so hot… It's hard to breathe…!"

I looked at him blankly. I had not even noticed that, but as soon as I thought about it, I immediately understood what he meant. It had that same sort of feeling that you get in summer when it is really hot and humid and you are standing in a crowd of people when there is no breeze, except more pronounced and without the smell of sweat.

Dad chuckled. "Once you close the door, everything outside is shut out. Notice how you can't feel Cell or Vegeta's **chi** anymore?" He then pointed at a room that looked like it was adjoining ours. "On the left is the tub and bathroom, and over there is the pantry." Leave it up to Dad to point out where the pantry was. He then motioned elsewhere. "Go over there-and you'll see why I couldn't stand to stay here more than a month."

"Whoa…!" Gohan and I said in unison. The adjoining area was so large that seemed to go on _forever_. What made it freaky was that after a small area of furnishings, there was nothing just open space. Both the ceiling (was it actually a ceiling?) and the floor where pure white.

"It's… it's so huge…!" Gohan said as my mouth was still deciding not to work. "B-but I thought this was all inside a room… And there's no end…"

"…So we are in another dimension!" I said confidently. Just seeing how large this so-called chamber was told me that something about it was definitely not normal. I mean, even the garden on the ground floor of Capsule Corp. is not _that_ big.

Dad chuckled again. "It's supposed to be as big as the earth itself. Be careful. If you wander too far, you'll get lost and die out there." I resisted the urge to snort. Near-death experiences seemed to be my specialty.

"It's rough in here," Dad continued. "Temperatures go from -40 to 120°. It's a blank world with only ¼ as much air and 10 times the gravity."

I frowned; so maybe this was going to be worse than trying to fight off the artificial humans.

"W-we have to stay here for a whole year…?" Gohan asked.

"Stop being a baby," I told him as I crossed my arms. "If this is what it takes to stop them, then so be it. Personally, I'd rather take the torture than see another world like Mirai-kun's."

Gohan looked like he was going to retaliate, but Dad put his hand on his head. "Let's not start a fight, you two. We have a lot of work to do. Anyways… let's start training right away. We're not here to fool around. First… we're going to turn you two into Super Saiyans."

"**Me**… a Super Saiyan…?" Gohan asked in wonder. "D-do you think I could do it…?"

"Sure you can," Dad told him with a large grin. "You have Saiyan blood in you too. You'll have to be one before the real training starts. That includes you too, Goshi."

"Uh huh…" I said hesitantly.

"You sound so unsure."

"Mirai-kun attempted the same thing a while back…"

Dad looked intrigued. "Really? How'd it go!"

I laughed nervously. "You'll see when we start training." I then paused for a moment. "You've actually never seen me fight Tou-san."

"I guess not," he said as he ruffled my hair.

"…Tou-san…" Gohan then said. "Are we delaying you training…?"

"For a while, yeah," he told us without much concern. "But once you're a Super Saiyan-you'll be great sparring partners! You'll see… I'm going to reach the state beyond the Super Saiyan. I'm going to be more powerful than anyone. But I want you, both of you, to be more powerful than me."

"**What?**" both Gohan and I asked in shock. How could anyone be stronger than Dad? "More powerful than you…?"

"That's right. I believe you can do it."

"I-I don't know…" Gohan told him, still unconvinced. "Trunks-san said I'll be a Super Saiyan in the future, but the androids will kill me anyways…"

"And in that future, both me and Cell don't **exist**," I told my brother irritably, trying to point out that Trunks' timeline was much different that our own. He stared at me in wonder.

"Goshi's right, you know," Dad told my brother. "The future is already different from what Trunks knew. Besides, in **that** future you didn't train in here, did you?" That finally convinced my brother, and we began our training a little later.

…

I was beginning to think that my brother was completely hopeless as I watched Dad try to explain to him how to become a Super Saiyan. I had just been watching, since Dad was taking turns with instructing us. I guess that he figured that since Trunks had attempted this kind of training with me before that I would be further along than my brother… which was true.

"No!" Dad corrected Gohan. "You're just making your _chi_ bigger! Rage wakes it up! You've got to get mad!"

"Easy for you to say…" Gohan told him irritably. "I can't just stand here and get mad…"

Dad's eyes then lit up. "…I know! Imagine that Cell's trying to kill me!"

"But I've never seen Cell…"

"Freeza then!" Dad said waving it off. "I don't care!"

Gohan then started focusing on that and began to power up again. It actually looked like he had gotten closer, but stopped shortly after he started and collapsed on the ground. "I… I can't do it…!" He told Dad between gasps of breath.

"Nobody's good at it overnight. Vegeta and I had a lot of trouble too," Dad told him as he tried to be encouraging. "Be patient. You were doing pretty well there."

"Mirai-kun told me that he had a hard time as well Gohan," I told my brother as I decided against laughing at him. He said that he could not just get mad at someone, but I knew that was a lie. He could get mad at me in an instant, and it was amusing that he was overlooking the one thing that could possibly help him along.

It was about then that I decided if Gohan made no further progress through the next few sessions, I was going to start teasing him, just to tick him off. I had enough dealings with an irritated Super Saiyan to know how to get out of hitting range. I then began to reminisce about training with Trunks as my brother went back to work.

…

It had been… I guess a couple months before my brother had finally become a Super Saiyan. Dad was ecstatic and his happy shouting had actually woken me up from a nap. The chamber was really hard on all of us, and it was easier to take the occasional nap than actually try to have a long rest.

"Did I miss something Tou-san…?" I asked him sleepily as I walked over.

It was about then that a golden glow caught my attention for a moment and then faded. I was slightly confused for a moment since that glow belonged to a Super Saiyan's chi, and I did not sense Dad's. "Wait… You finally did it Gohan!"

"That's what you think…" he hissed at me as he tried to catch his breath. "Tou-san… It's… It's too hard…"

"Nah. Just takes a little more work, that's all," Dad told him. "Let's take a break. I'll cut your hair. It's getting shaggy." He then looked over at me. "Hey Goshi, what do you say we have a little celebration? I think your brother's earned it."

I made a face. "You're going to make me cook again, aren't you!"

"But, you're so much better at it than I am." Dad's expression was almost that of a plea. I just signed and turned towards the pantry.

It was true that I had learned to cook. Since Bulma's cooking was nowhere near as good as Mother's, I had taken it upon myself to learn how to make a better meal. I had accidentally revealed my cooking talent shortly after we had started training, and afterwards, Dad tried as often as possible to coax me into cooking for him. It was a good think I loved my father… he ate so much… and I was the one who was forced to clean the dishes!

…

"Come on Gohan! You're making this too easy!" I told my brother as we sparred one day. I was so used to fighting creatures you could not sense, that fighting with my brother was like taking away a handicap for me. Most often than not, I was able to get the upper hand in our matches.

"Well excuse me for not having as much practice!" he replied as he threw a punch. I laughed as I blocked it and knocked him to the ground.

I landed near him. "That makes 30 to 9 this month."

"I swear you're fighting dirty or something," he told me as he brushed some dirt off his cheek. He then smiled to let me know that he was joking. "I bet you couldn't beat Tou-san."

"I'd agree with you on that," I told him as I looked over at our Dad. He had been sitting in the same spot for some time, thinking (at least I thought he was thinking) about how to achieve the form beyond the Super Saiyan. "Do you really think that it can be done?" I asked Gohan as my mind wandered to the idea behind Dad's goal.

"I'm not sure," he admitted.

It was then that Dad just stood up and transformed into a Super Saiyan. He then went further, and it was like his chi just exploded and his muscled bulged. Gohan and I raced over to him, happy to know that it was actually possible to reach this new level.

Dad did not respond to our approval at first. "…And I can do one more notch!" he told us after a moment. He then just powered up more, and the force of his chi nearly knocked both Gohan and me over.

"You… **You did it**!" Gohan yelled. "Th-this is incredible! You can take Cell easily now!"

"…Could I beat him like this…?" Dad asked. "No… probably not…"

"Huh?" Gohan and I exchanged glances.

"All this new mass gives me strength, but it kills my speed." Dad then returned to his normal form. "All the power in the world won't do any good if I can't hit the guy! This consumes too much energy, too. All in all-the regular Super Saiyan is best! At least now I know. From now on we'll try to make **Super Saiyan** our natural form-and stay in it! We've got to work on getting rid of that instability… that restless feeling. We've gotta start over again from basic training! It seems like the long way-but it's the best way to go."

Gohan and I emphatically agreed.

…

"Huh?" Dad asked when we finally emerged from the Chamber of Spirit and Time. "Vegeta and Trunks are still here… but I can feel Cell's _chi_ too, so it must be alive! What's going on here…?"

It was then that I noticed that Trunks, Vegeta, Piccolo, Tenshinhan, and Mr. Popo were all standing in front of us with shocked looks. "Tell us what happened," Dad requested of them.

Trunks then told us that Vegeta had fought Cell. Vegeta's new abilities were too much for Cell and soon the abomination looked like it was going to be destroyed, but Vegeta grew bored and allowed Cell to go find Juuhachigou so that he could absorb her. Trunks tried to stop him, but it was too late and Cell managed to achieve perfection.

Vegeta then decided to fight Cell again, but this time around, Cell was too much for him and he was defeated. Trunks then took over; he had the strength to defeat Cell, but not the speed. It was just as Dad had demonstrated to us; strength with no speed was not worth it.

After Trunks consented to defeat, Cell asked him a few questions about where Dad was. After they were answered, Cell decided that he was going to hold a tournament in ten days, and we were all invited.

As he finished, I stared intently at him. There was something really off about how he looked, and it was bothering me. "Is there something wrong, Goshi-kun?" he asked me once he noticed my look.

I immediately blushed and looked away from him. "It's nothing!"

"Come on," he coaxed. "I've known you for too long for you to act like this."

I started fidgeting as I continued to blush. "I… I think I like it better when you had the longer hair…" I told him hesitantly, which caught him completely off guard. After a moment of looking confused, he began to laugh.

"Hey, Trunks, I wanted to ask you something," Dad then told my teacher.

"Sure, go ahead," he consented.

"How long has my daughter been a Super Saiyan? The way she spoke about your training together, I thought that it didn't work, so Gohan and I were quite surprised when she revealed that she could. But she won't give us any details on how it happened."

Trunks looked over at me, which caused me to begin to walk away. I really did not want to hear anything that was going to make me revisit that particular day. "I don't think I'd actually blame her," he told my dad. "That was one of our worst experiences, and even I'm reluctant to mention the details."

Dad seemed to understand. The conversation then moved directions, and Dad asked Mr. Popo for his gi. As Dad changed clothes, Gohan asked Piccolo for an outfit like his. Piccolo consented and gave him one, minus the turban.

As that occurred, I just drifted to the edge of the lookout and stared out into the distance. "Aren't you going chance clothes too?" Trunks asked me gentle as he came up beside me.

I looked up at him. "I'm probably going to have to make myself a new gi at home," I confessed.

He smiled gently, "I could understand why. Most people don't wear your colors."

I looked down at my tattered purple and charcoal gi. "I guess not."

We were then silent for a moment. "So Goshi-kun, what's wrong? You seem a little moody."

"Y-you're going to be leaving soon…" I told him hesitantly. "It's selfish… but I really don't want you to go…" I then looked away from him.

He then did something I was not expecting: he knelt down and hugged me! I stared at him in absolute shock. "And you don't think that I'm going to miss you too?" he asked me in a somewhat accusing voice. "We've been through far too much together."

He then paused for a moment. "If it makes you feel better, I'm going to come visit after I manage to defeat the artificial humans in my time. You can handle that, right?"

That surprised me as well. I was not suspecting for him to come back when this was all done. "Sure! I'll be waiting Trunks-nii!"

"Good! So tell me, how come you, Gohan-san, and Goku-san are all Super Saiyans right now?"

I laughed at him. "It's a training secret!" I then looked at him carefully again. "And I still say that you looked better with long hair!"

It was about then that Dad decided that he was going to have a look a Cell and used his teleportation technique to go to where Cell was currently residing. Curious, Trunks and I headed back towards the others so that we could hear the results of his analysis.

…

"Goku-san… what did you think?" Trunks asked Dad urgently after he returned.

"…Frankly, I didn't think it would get that much stronger," Dad told him matter-o-factly. "No way of knowing now powerful it'll be when it finally gets down to business. I won't really know until I try… but as I am now I probably don't have a chance."

"It's… that powerful? …I was afraid of that…"

"Then use the Room of Spirit and Time again," Piccolo told him. "We've just decided that I would go first, then Vegeta… then Trunks… then you three."

"I'm sorry… I can't… I'll never be a match against that…" Tenshinhan confessed.

"Nah," Dad told him. "Gohan, Goshi, and I will pass. We'll train out here. We'll manage in nine days."

Gohan and I exchanged looks. If Dad did not think that he could win, why we were not going back in? Had we missed something? Something important that only he knew? Neither of us had an answer.

…

Why won't Goku go back into the Chamber of Spirit and Time? Has he discovered some secret that has assured him of future success against Cell? Find out on the next heart-stopping episode of dragonballz!


	21. Relaxation

"You'll **pass**?" Piccolo repeated in complete shock. "You won't use the Room again?"

"That's what I said," Dad told him cheerfully.

"Why…? You still have another day before you've used all your time!"

"It's pretty rough in there, even if you're not doing anything," Dad explained. "I'll do better resting my body."

That seemed to amuse Vegeta for some reason. "Even the great Kakarrot… admits defeat against the rigors of the Room."

"Maybe," Dad admitted. "But there's a point where stressing your body more is just torture, not training. I've got nothing against you guys using the room, though. You've probably still got room to improve."

"What did you say?" Vegeta growled. "Are you suggesting that **you** are more advanced than **I** am?"

"Uh-huh. A lot."

"**WHAT**…?"

Dad then turned to the others. "Good luck, everybody! We'll meet again at the tournament!" He turned to look at my brother and me. "Let's go, Gohan, Goshi!"

"Y…yeah…" we said together as we followed him to the edge of the lookout. We then took off a moment later.

…

"Could I make a short stop here?" Dad asked us as we came up to a strange looking bulge on the tower that was seated below the lookout.

Neither Gohan nor I had a problem with the request and followed Dad inside the bulge, which turned out to be a bit of a house. When we landed, both Gohan and I were rather surprised to see a dark-colored cat holding a hermit or sage staff (1). There was also a man sitting inside who was unfamiliar to me.

"Hello, Muten Karin-sama," Dad told the cat.

Gohan and I quickly exchanged a look before we bowed slightly. "N-nice to meet you…!" we told him hesitantly.

"My. How you've grown," the cat told my father.

Dad then looked over at the man. "Hey, Yajirobe! You're back!" I frowned slightly as I looked at the man; I did not recall ever hearing about him.

"What are you doin' here, Goku…?" Yajirobe nervously asked my dad. "You better not be tryin' t' talk me into fightin' in that stupid tournament!"

"Don't worry. That's not why I'm here."

"G-good… although I know you must be wishin' you could beg f'r my help…"

"Earth is in dire straits indeed," the cat told Dad. "Terror… Chaos…"

Dad nodded. "I've never seem anything like Cell. In its complete form it might be the perfect fighter."

"…You're certainly calm, considering that." The cat's voice was hesitant and somewhat nervous. "I suspect you made some valuable discovery in the Room of Spirit and Time." (2)

Dad put his hand behind his head as he began to laugh. "Sort of."

Gohan and I looked at our dad before we exchanged confused expressions. We had been with him the entire time, and neither of us knew what he could possibly be talking about, let alone what he had discovered.

"Muten Karin-sama, you've got a pretty good idea how strong Cell is by watching from here, right?" Dad asked.

The cat nodded. "He hasn't shown his true powers, but I have a sense."

That seemed to make Dad happy. "Can you compare us? I'm gonna rev up right now," and he did.

"ENOUGH! YOU'RE GOING TO SHATTER THE TOWER!" the cat shouted as he and Yajirobe desperately tried to not be flown from the tower by the sheer force of Dad's chi. Dad quickly complied.

"That was about half power," Dad told him. "What do you think?"

"H-half power…?" the cat stammered. "You never cease to astound me! Is there any limit to what you can become?"

I looked over at my brother and knew that he was thinking the same thing that I was. Something was off. Dad said what he had just done was 'half power' but that seemed wrong. I was having a very hard time trying to piece everything odd about the day together.

"But how am I compared to Cell?" Dad asked the cat, almost impatiently.

"You always ask the most difficult questions…" the cat replied. "As I said, this is only speculation… but honestly… I'm afraid Cell is still a bit stronger."

"Oh geez…" Yajirobe said as he finally got off the ground. "What **is** this Cell thing?"

"I thought so," Dad said happily. That really made Gohan and I stare at him. "I guessed right! Thanks, Muten Karin-sama!" That also caught the cat off guard.

"Let's go you two!" Dad told us as he put his hands on our shoulders.

"You're using _that_ method again… aren't you…?" I asked my Dad unhappily as he grinned at me. Gohan then told the cat 'goodbye' before the scene disappeared.

…

When the scene finally reappeared, I learned that we were in front of the Kame House. Once again, Dad had to pry me from him before he could move.

"I don't know why that bothers you so much, Goshi," Dad told me as I regained myself.

"I don't really know either…" I admitted. "But I really don't like it."

"Anyways… Let's grab Kaa-san and go home," Dad told us. "We can rest better there. We'll rest three days, train three days, and rest another three. …Then it'll be time to fight."

"Tou-san… is that really enough?" Gohan asked him rather surprised that Dad was being so lax about this. "Can we win?"

"Don't worry about it," he replied as he began pushing us towards the house. "C'mon, let's get your Kaa-san."

I am actually still debating with myself over whether or not getting Mother was a good thing. She pretty much screamed when she saw us. "IN HEAVEN'S NAME… WHAT DID YOU DO TO YOUR **HAIR**?" she demanded of us. "YOU'VE BECOME **PUNK ROCKERS**!"

I wanted to argue about what could be truly considered punk or not (I had learned way too much about music by that time), but Dad pretty much did not give us much time to speak. He just told Mother that we were going to be Super Saiyans for a while, and that we were going to head home. Dad then teleported us home, much to my dismay.

…

"Look at the size o' the fish in this lake!" Dad pointed out to us as we prepared for a family picnic, quite a bit later.

"Tou-san… are you sure we should be relaxing like this?" my brother asked him.

"Don't you worry about a thing! We'll probably be fine!"

" 'P… probably'…?" both me and my brother repeated.

"Take it easy! We're fine!" Dad tried to reassure us. "Like I told you, there's no point in pushing any further. We've taken our bodies as far as they can go."

"Hey you three!" Mother called out to us. "The picnic's ready!"

Dad seemed ecstatic as he turned to us. "Come on you two! Forget what's comin' up and have a good time!"

"Mirai-kun and Bulma-san would often say similar things…" I said quietly as we began to walk back over to where Mother was fixing the blanket.

"Huh?" my brother asked me. I had not told them much about my time in the future, so it usually took both Gohan and Dad by surprised if I opened up about something.

"We… we often didn't have time to relax and enjoy ourselves… Usually, the day involved fighting, training, or school work… but if Bulma-san managed to pick up a rare food, we would usually have a feast in an attempt to lift our spirits and forget about things for a while. Both Mirai-kun and I usually needed it."

"Hey Goshi, how come you keep calling Trunks-san by that name?" Gohan asked, taking the opportunity to pry a little more into the six years that I was not around.

I laughed. "I've been calling him that for three years. I do it because it irritates him."

"But… that's mean!"

I noticed that my brother's face wore a rather shocked expression. That amused me further. "We like to tease each other, and that's just part of it. He likes to remark about my eating habits, and I aggravate him by calling him that. I think it can be considered a show of affection." I then looked over at my brother, who was wearing a dubious expression. It was clear that he did not understand which made me smile. I would demonstrate how it worked when everything was over.

"Hey, could you at least stop being a Super Saiyan while we eat?" Mother asked Dad as he and Gohan finally sat down.

…

"Gohan… when did Tou-san learn how to drive?" I asked my brother as we were sitting in the backseat of a car our father was driving. I had absolutely no recollection of him doing so in the past, so I was a little confused.

"It was sometime after we learned about the androids," he replied before he turned to look out the window.

"Nothing's open," Dad observed as we passed a small village. "All the stores are closed."

"Well, yeah," Mother agreed. "Who wants to work when they're gonna die in seven days?"

"_We interrupt this program for a special news report_" the radio said. I groaned; radios never had good news. "_The Royal Defense Force is at this moment racing to Point 5, region 28, to bring down the monster called __**Cell**__. They are about to launch their attack!_"

"What?" Dad asked as he realized what was happening. He then began yelling: "NO, DON'T BE STUPID! STAY AWAY! WHAT ARE THEY **THINKING**? DON'T THEY UNDERSTAND THEY'RE JUST GOING TO THEIR **DEATHS**?"

"_This is an all-out attack!_" the radio continued. "_The blasts are deafening! I've never seen such firepower! They're still not letting up! Surely __**nothing**__ could survive this onslaught!_"

"Get out of there-now!" Dad hissed.

A few moments later, the radio produced nothing but static. All of us knew the result of the attack: Cell wiped them out. Dad angrily turned the radio off and opened the door to the car.

"Could you three go on home by yourselves?" Dad asked us as he got out of the car. "I'm sorry. I have to see Piccolo." He then disappeared.

None of us knew what he was going to do, so we just shrugged it off and went home.

…

Some time later, Dad just randomly appeared, told us that we had to go see someone and took off with us, via teleportation. He then got Kuririn, and the next thing I knew, we were on the lookout.

"Will you stop doing that to me, Tou-san?" I demanded of my father once I calmed down.

Dad just waved me off and mentioned that Dende was here. Gohan and Kuririn seemed surprised, but I was just confused. Who was Dende?

After a moment, Gohan dragged me over to where a small version of Piccolo was standing. Apparently, this was Dende. We were quickly introduced.

Then, at Piccolo's prompting, Dende then remade the dragon balls, which relieved everyone. Dad then said that he was going to go look for the dragon balls and teleported off somewhere. I don't think that there's been ever a time where that man has confused me more.

Trunks then asked Gohan and me if we had any idea what our dad was planning. We unfortunately knew nothing, which caused everyone else to speculate.

…

Then… it was the day of the Cell Games. (3)

After Dad reappeared on the lookout (he had been at home for some reason), we all began to make preparations to head out. Vegeta had gone on ahead already, which did not surprise anyone.

It was then revealed to Dad that the dragon balls could not bring back someone who had already died previously. Dad did not seem bothered by that in the least bit. He just said that we had to not die; I swear that he made everything sound too easy. We then took off.

A little while later, he noticed the arena that Cell had built and began our descent. When we landed, I noticed a strange creature, much taller than most of us, standing on the arena. I really had no way to describe it, other than it looked like someone had crossed a man with a giant grasshopper. I mean, it even had the wings!

"Welcome, everyone," the thing, which I now gathered was Cell, said.

"Feh… What's the point in bringing **them** along?" Vegeta irritably asked no one in particular. We had landed not too far from him.

It was about that time when Juurokugou walked over to us. "I wanted to thank you, Kuririn," he told our friend. "I owe it to you that I'm back in action."

"Hey… glad to do it!" Kuririn told him.

Dad then extended his hand towards the artificial human. "Let's do our best."

Juurokugou gave him an evil look. "I was created to kill you, Son Goku. Don't ever forget that."

That seemed to upset Dad slightly. "Man… that's a downer…" he whispered to Kuririn. He then straightened up and began to crack his knuckles. "Well then! Mind if I start us off?"

"What?" Trunks asked, summing up everyone's thoughts. "Do you really think we should start with you…?"

"Is it okay, Vegeta?" Dad asked the prince, while ignoring Trunks' question.

"Do what you want," Vegeta told him, uncaringly. "**I'll** still be the one to finish him."

"Hey… Who said **you** get to pick?" some strange man with a black afro and large mustache yelled at us, which surprised me. I did not know that anyone else was here, so I looked at him carefully; there was a possibility that he was more arrogance than Vegeta.

"Um, excuse me…" another man asked Dad. Since he was holding a microphone and there was a cameraman nearby, I guessed that he was from a TV station or something along those lines. "Are you **all** entering the Cell Game?"

"Yup," Dad told him. "Most of us, anyway."

"You've got to be **kidding**!" the announcer yelled. "This isn't a **game**! I mean, yeah, it's **called** a 'game,' but it's-"

"You're the one who doesn't get it," Kuririn interrupted.

The arrogant guy laughed. "I didn't expect **this**… I guess some people've been living under a rock and never heard of **Hercule-sama**!"

"This is the World Champion Martial Artist!" the announcer told us, which made me snort. Dad was one of those as well. "The mightiest in the world!"

"Goku, just let him go first," Kuririn told my dad.

"Well… if you say so…"

"**It's time**," Cell then told us.

…

Finally, the Cell Games are about to begin! Can our warriors defeat this menace, or will this creature from the future get the better of them? Stay tuned for the next exciting episode of Dragonballz to find out!

* * *

1 In the manga renditions, Karin/Korin (Japanese/English) is shown to be a dark-colored cat, not white. Also, Gohan never saw Karin until this point in time in the manga.

2 I can't figure out why it keeps changing between 'chamber' and 'room' in reference to the hyperbolic time chamber. It was driving me nuts!

3 I want to point this out. It says that the Cell Games occurred on M_ the 17th. It is never stated that the Games occurred either in May or March, and I know for a fact that none of the Japanese months begin with an 'm', so your guess is as good as mine as to when this takes place. It DOES NOT happen in May, since the androids appeared in mid-May and there is nowhere near enough time to allow for this. And, the Cell Games DO NOT OCCUR a year after the androids appear. It's only a couple weeks.


	22. Round 1

We all stared at Cell as he glanced back at us. "I don't care who goes first," it told us. "Get up here."

"**I'm** first, of course," the arrogant man, Hercule, announced. "The obvious choice."

"You'll get killed," Dad told him. "I'm saying this for your own good-go home!"

"I can almost hear the whole world groaning," the announcer said into the microphone. "Did you hear what this man just said to Hercule-sama? He had the gall to say, 'You'll get killed!' To tell **Hercule-sama** to go **home**!"

"Just let the idiot have his way," Kuririn told Dad. "We'll bring 'im back to life with the dragon balls."

"Even if it does seem like a waste," I added under my breath. Fortunately, only Gohan heard me, so Dad did not end up giving me the 'that wasn't very nice' look or lecture.

"Sheesh," Dad said in an exasperated tone. "Fine…" He then waved at, I think, Hercule.

"Well! A moment of wisdom!" the announcer shouted. "Although I'm sure the fool doesn't realize he's just escaped certain death! Ha ha! Hercule-sama is clearly annoyed at the disruption. He finally gets himself ready for the match!"

Hercule then pulled off the cape and belt he was wearing. "He takes off his cape… and his glorious belt!" the announcer shouted as Hercule raised his belt above his head. "The Cell Game is about to begin! The fate of earth rides on this, but our champion, Hercule-sama, told us that he's been looking forward to this day!"

"What's this?" the announcer continued. "Hercule-sama…. Is taking something from his pocket? It's a capsule! He's got a capsule! And it's a duffel bag! A huge duffel bag came out of the capsule!" Hercule then opened the bag. "And inside that bag is… tiles? It's filled with tiles? Hercule-sama is putting them into a neat stack!"

As we watched the idiot pile the tiles, I could not help but grow irritated. Not only was this guy trying to show off, and doing horribly at it, he was irritating Cell, which I did not think that was a good thing.

"He's done!" the announcer yelled. "One, two, three… fifteen! Fifteen in all! Fifteen tiles have been piled high!"

Hercule then smirked and made a show of concentrating. "He's concentrating!" I rolled my eyes as the announcer stated the obvious. "Hercule-sama is gathering all his strength! Let's be quiet for a moment…"

Then, Hercule struck the stack of tiles in an attempt to break all of them. Ironically, one of the tiles refused to break. For whatever reason, that amused me.

"Oh no!" the announcer yelled. "One didn't break! But what a feat! What power! Fourteen! Fourteen tiles have been smashed to pieces!"

"CELL!" Hercule shouted while pointing to the ground. "LOOK AT THESE TILES! This is what **you'll** look like… one minute from **now**!"

"**Amazing!** What a moment that was!" the announcer yelled into the microphone. "I shall never forget it! Cell must be terrified! The once arrogant monster must now be cringing now at Hercule-sama's destructive power! But it's too late to apologize! The people of the world won't pardon its crimes!"

"ALL RIGHT, THEN! COME AT ME!" Hercule taunted.

"The Cell Game has begun! Will the world live or die?" The announcer's voice then softened slightly as the oaf took a fighting stance. "Hercule-sama, unrivaled winner of the World Championship, vs. Cell! Now the fists of Hercule-sama will dole out justice! The rules are simple! You lose if you fall out of bounds, give up, or die! We're with you, Hercule-sama! We know you're going to kill him!"

Hercule then began his assault, causing the announcer to shout joyously. "There he goes! Hercule-sama opens with a vicious attack! His Dynamite Kick hits home! That's gotta hurt! Has the match been decided already? Hercule-sama doesn't ease up his barrage of blows! Cell is helpless! It can't even fight back! Hercule-sama is too much for the monster!"

Cell was not moving because he knew that Hercule was no more of a threat to it than any other normal human. After dealing with Hercule's assault for longer than I thought he would, Cell sent the oaf flying into a nearby mountainside with a simple movement of its arm.

"I was actually rooting for Cell for a minute…" Kuririn cheerfully admitted to my brother.

We then heard the oaf's voice from our location. "He lived… pity," Piccolo said, which almost caused me to laugh. "I suppose not even Cell wants to dirty its hands on something like that."

"He… he fell out of bounds…" the announcer said in disbelief. "Um… er… Hercule-sama… has lost…"

"Come on now. Let's get this Game started," Cell said as he looked over towards us. "Who's going first? You, Son Goku?"

Dad stepped on to the arena cheerfully. "Yup. That's right."

"D-does this mean… the earth is now **doomed**…?" the announcer asked in a shaky voice. I stared at him in disbelief. Cell knew Dad's name, and I would have expected the announcer to pick up on that, but no, he was too busy believing that Hercule was earth's only chance. I hated people like that.

"H-hercule-sama… how could you lose?" the announcer asked as the oaf walked back over.

"I… uh… I just lost my footing!" Hercule retorted.

"It looked like you got knocked through the air…"

"Don't worry… I'll take a little break and then I'll **really** get down to business!"

"He still doesn't realize it…?" Vegeta said in shock as he watched Hercule. "He's the World Champion **idiot!**" And, for once, I agreed with him.

It was then that I noticed that Dad had crossed into the center of the ring. "It's… about to begin…" Gohan stated in a somewhat nervous voice. There was then a moment of silence before Dad and Cell took their fighting stances.

"So you're going to start us off, eh?" Cell asked my father. "I'd wanted to save the best for last… oh well."

"D-don't worry, people of earth!" the announcer then yelled. "Hercule-sama slipped out of bounds but he'll fight Cell again after a short break! And during that break, one of those **fools** who refuses to listen to our warnings will show us how he thinks he can fight! Well, let him learn his lesson! Some stupidity only death can cure!" The announcer then turned to Hercule. "Hercule-sama, what do **you** think of this unknown contestant?"

Hercule laughed. "I can tell just by looking at his build and stance that he's an amateur. He wouldn't last two seconds against me. I'll give him five against Cell!" The announcer laughed before Hercule continued. "I guess this won't be much of a break for me-but it'll be entertaining!"

And then, it started. Dad lunged at Cell and attacked with a kick. Cell easily blocked it, but Dad countered with a left jab. After blocking that as well, Cell attempted a hook shot, but Dad ducked, which led them into a ferocious volley of attacks.

After dodging another hook by Cell, Dad did several backhand springs to give himself some space. Cell then charged at him for a head butt. Even if Dad had not blocked it, I highly doubted that it would have done much; Dad's head was probably harder than a diamond.

Dad then leaned back and used his hands for leverage as he used his feet to knock Cell into the air. Dad quickly went after him and prepared a Kamehameha as he followed. When the attack was released, it was clear that it was not exactly the best he could do, and Cell easily knocked it aside. But, it was just a diversion. Dad then used his teleportation ability to take Cell's back and hit him.

That seemed to irritate the creature as he immediately hit Dad in the face before getting above him and knocking him to the ground. Dad managed to catch himself, but he still managed to land a bit harder than expected. He stood up and smiled as the creature landed.

"That should do as a warm-up…" Cell said as it smiled as well.

"N-now the real fight's gonna start…" Kuririn stammered as we waited for the fight to begin again. Hercule and the announcer muttered some idiotic thing about how they were surprised that Dad was doing so well, which was seriously making me fantasize about doing _something_ to get them to shut up.

Suddenly, Dad powered up. The force of his chi was astounding and created such a shockwave that some of us hard a difficult time staying in place. The golden aura somehow made us understand the severity of the situation far more than before, yet, for me, the color of it was slightly comforting.

"Unbelievable…" Trunks stammered. "Goku-san is just unbelievable…"

Kuririn laughed; he seemed genuinely happy about how strong Dad was. "H-his chi is immeasurable…! He's b-beyond all of us!"

Gohan and I then exchanged glances. Did they really think that this was Dad's full power?

Cell then powered up as well, making his chi approximately as strong as Dad's. Dad then walked up to Cell, who then told him, "Do it."

Dad smiled and agreed. He then punched Cell square in the stomach, elbowed it in the back as it doubled over, kicked it skywards, and used a roundhouse punch to knock it into the arena floor. After bouncing off of the floor, Cell caught itself and smiled as it floated upside-down. "Good, good!" it said. "This is how it should be! It's no fun unless you're well-matched!"

"Yeah," Dad told him happily. "I've always said so."

Cell then landed and took a very familiar stance. "Ka… Me…" it began, which caused everyone some alarm. It was going to use Dad's attack! I immediately took a defensive position as I hoped that the attack would not need to be deflected. Trunks immediately grabbed my shoulder; a silent way to tell me to let my dad handle it. Although, I think he was just trying to make sure I did not get involved.

"WAIT!" Dad yelled, now completely alarmed. "DON'T SHOOT A KAMEHAMEHA WHILE YOU'RE REVVED THAT HIGH!"

"Ha… Me…" Cell continued without a concern. It then fired the attack.

"CELL, OVER HERE!" Dad shouted as he flew skyward. Cell obliged and bent the attack to have it follow him, which caused it to barely miss us. As the attack caught up to him, Dad once again teleported, appearing beside Cell. The creature was surprised, which allowed Dad to nail it with another kick.

Cell rebounded and stared at Dad. "**What**?" It was clearly irritated. "That Kamehameha couldn't have missed! You disappeared like that once before, too…"

"I can teleport," Dad told him shortly, all trace of humor was gone. "Guess you didn't know."

"I see… **Teleport**? …That's annoying."

"So tell me… Would you have shot that Kamehameha and destroyed the earth if I hadn't jumped?"

"But… I knew you **would** jump."

Dad's smile reappeared. "Uh-huh. You're not stupid."

"To answer your question, though… I'd destroy the earth without batting an eye. It'll just cost me a little **fun**, that's all."

My eyes immediately narrowed. Cell was just as bad, if not worse, than the other artificial humans! Irritation immediately flooded my veins, and I made a promise to myself, that if it came to it, I would take the abomination out myself! These creatures had no place on this planet!

After making sure that Dad had nothing else to say, Cell charged my father, showing a speed that was faster than before. It then threw a connecting punch that knocked him backwards. Dad tried to counter-attack, but it dodged and elbowed him in the back, sending Dad into the arena floor.

Dad then pushed himself into the air, but Cell took his back and knocked him back where he had been. As Dad attempted to stand, Cell took his back, yet again. "I think I'm pretty fast, myself," it said while wearing a sinister smile. "Even if I can't teleport."

Cell then punched Dad in the face and attacked again. Fortunately, Dad managed to dodge the attack and used his feet to once again knock the creature into the air. Dad then teleported behind Cell to attack, but the creature moved out of the way and took Dad's back again. This time, Dad knew where it was and turned right before the attack could hit.

"Good grief…" I heard Kuririn state in exasperation. Apparently, he was having difficultly keeping up with their movements. "They're so **fast**…"

Cell then said something to Dad before he extended his hand towards the arena. Dad then turned and shouted as loud and as urgently as possible, "EVERYBODY! GET AWAY FROM THE RING!"

Cell then blasted the ring just moments after we moved out of the way. We landed a short while away on a nearby cliff and looked over to see the large crater where the ring had been. I also happened to notice that Juurokugou had moved Hercule, the announcer, and the camera guy out of the way.

My attention then turned back towards Dad and Cell as they landed near the crater. Cell then restarted the fight by launching several beams of chi at Dad, all of which he dodged. Dad then took off into the air and took his favorite attack stance. He was going to fire the Kamehameha wave from the sky!

"The Kamehameha!" Piccolo shouted in disbelief. "Can Goku truly be planning to unleash it at full power?"

"H-he won't do it…!" Kuririn told us. "Not with the **earth** in his line of fire!"

Even Cell seemed worried as it became clear that Dad was really going to fire the attack.

"**HE'S DOING IT…!**" Vegeta shouted. It was very clear that he was just as shocked as the rest of us; this was completely uncharacteristic for Dad!

Then, Dad disappeared from sight and reappeared right in front of Cell. He then let the attack go, which hit Cell at point blank range. It was such an astounding strategy that I became almost jealous that I could not anything that could compare.

When the smoke from the attack cleared, Cell was lying on the ground; its arms, wings, and head were completely missing.

"Y-yes! He did it!" Yamcha shouted.

"Of course!" Tenshinhan added. "He **teleported**!"

Yamcha then looked over at my Sensei and Kuririn, who were both wearing serious expressions. "We won! …What's wrong…? Why aren't you happy?"

"WATCH OUT, GOKU!" Kuririn then shouted. "CELL'S GONNA COME BACK!"

We then watched in horror as the headless body stood up and sprouted new body parts. "It… regenerates…?" I asked in a sickened voice. It was somehow so wrong that it turned my stomach.

The fight started again after a few moments, and it was very clear that both of them were now tired. After several volleys of attacks, Cell knocked Dad into a rock formation and chased after him. Dad explosively removed himself from the rubble and began firing beams of chi at the approaching creature. Something, that was a little uncharacteristic.

The attacks were actually breaking through Cell's defense, and after several moments, it created a force field of sorts of chi. The force field was so large that it nearly reached us where we were.

Dad was clearly out of breath when the force field dissipated, and Cell knew it. "You've lost a lot of strength…" it told him with a grin. "Have one of your _senzu_, Son Goku… It'll make a more entertaining battle."

"That's right!" Trunks shouted as he turned to Kuririn, who was holding the beans. "We should give Goku-san a senzu, and all turn on Cell-it's weakened enough by now!" When Kuririn said and did nothing, Trunks grew irritated. "Kuririn-san! Hurry, get him the senzu…!"

"SHUT UP, TRUNKS!" Vegeta shouted at him, which surprised him. "I guess you don't have a Saiyan's pride. I'm sure he'd rather choose death than win that way. He's no longer fighting just to save the earth. Remember that."

"…But… at this rate…"

"Yes. He'll definitely lose." Vegeta seemed surprisingly worried about that. "I hate the thought, but I'll admit it. I've trained hard, but I could never beat Kakarrot. He's brilliant. Unfortunately, Cell wasn't just one, but **two** steps ahead of him."

"B-but what can we do…? Just stand by and **watch**?"

Vegeta nearly growled at him. "You said yourself that he must have a plan. Pin your hopes on that…"

"Mirai-kun…" I said as I moved closer to him. "Unlike you and me… who _have_ to survive a fight because there's no one else… Tou-san's used to fighting until it's over. He understands that if he cannot defeat the opponent, someone else will…"

"And you're **okay** with just watching that happen…?" he demanded of me.

"No… but, it's not my decision to make."

"What's wrong?" Cell asked Dad, causing all of us to turn back to them. "Does your pride prevent you from taking the senzu? I've spent so much of my energy. If you come back up to full power your chances will increase… **slightly**. Come on. I want to have more fun."

Dad then smiled and relaxed. "I lose," he said loudly. "I give up. You've shown me how strong you are! I'm no fool!" That simple statement made everyone stunned and speechless.

"…Son Goku… Do you realize that those words mean…?" Cell asked my father. "Once on one is left to fight in the Cell Game… every last person on earth will die."

"Don't get the wrong idea," Dad replied happily. "We haven't run out of fighters yet."

"It's the same thing. Vegeta and Trunks may have improved, but they're nothing like you."

"Can I designate the person who'll go next?"

"You mean… you're **serious**?"

"What's he **doing**…?" Vegeta hissed. "There's no one who can win!"

"…I have a very bad feeling about this…" I said under my breath as I waited to hear what Dad had to say next.

…

Goku… has admitted defeat? If Goku can't defeat Cell, is there someone else who really can, like Goku suggests? Find out who's up next on the next shocking episode of Dragonballz!


	23. Round 2

"The Cell Game will end in this next match," Dad told Cell. "Because if **he** loses, there'll be nobody else who can beat you."

"Wh-who **is** it?" Kuririn stammered. "I can't stand the suspense!"

"But I know…" Dad continued. "After trying my hand against you… that he **can** beat you. That's why I'm leaving it all to him."

"Do you mean to tell me there's someone stronger than you… **and** me?" Cell nearly demanded. Dad agreed. "Let me hear the name of this fantasy warrior, hm?"

Dad then turned to us. "YOU'RE UP… **GOHAN!**"

That took absolutely everyone by surprise, including my brother.

"WHAT…" Vegeta shouted. "DID HE SAY…?"

"Has he lost his mind at last?" Piccolo demanded. "Is he going to send his own **son** to his death?"

Dad then floated over to us as Cell scoffed. "You can do it," Dad told my brother. "Right, Gohan?"

"Me… fight **Cell**…?" Gohan stammered.

"Come to your senses, Goku!" Piccolo told my dad in a tone that was more like a warning. "How can he do this? He's grown remarkably, but this is Cell – against whom not even you stood a chance!"

"Piccolo," Dad said calmly. "Gohan has more power than I can believe. Think about it. He's been fighting with us ever since he was little. I was nothing like this when I was his age!"

"B-but even if he's **Super Saiyan** now…" Kuririn tried to object. "…to fight **Cell**…!"

"The sleeping power sleeping deep within him began awakening in the **Room of Spirit and Time**… probably due to the torture Goshi put him through." Dad quickly gave me a smile, which caused me to irritably turn away. "Shall I ask him how **he **feels?" Dad then turned to my brother. "What do you say, Gohan? Was our battle too tough for you?"

"…Well… no…" he told Dad. "…B-but neither of you was fighting for **real** yet, right?"

"I don't know about Cell, but **I** was doing my best. So to **you** it looked like I wasn't really trying, huh?" Dad then looked at me. "What about you Goshi?"

"Is… is that true, Gohan…" Piccolo asked.

"Y-yeah…" my brother stated, in a voice that seemed to ring with shame.

"I-impossible…!" Vegeta stammered. "The brat's lying!"

"Goshi-kun…?" Trunks demanded of me. His blue eyes were wide.

"No comment," I told said as flatly as possibly. It was probably just sibling rivalry, but I was jealous of the attention that my dad was giving my brother. Why did he get to fight next?

Dad then patted my brother's back after smiling at me. "Do it, Gohan! Bring peace back to the world. You want to grow up and be a scientist, don't you?"

"All… all right…" Gohan reluctantly said after staring at Dad. "I'll give it a try…" He then pulled off the heavy, cape-like thing he was wearing over his shoulders and flew to the ground in front of Cell.

Dad then extended his hand towards Kuririn. "Kuririn, you have some senzu, right? Could I have one?"

"Huh? Oh, sure…" He then handed him one.

"Thanks."

Dad then turned towards Cell and called to it before throwing it the bean. "That's a senzu. Eat it!"

"Wh-what the…?" Kuririn demanded of my father.

"Cell's exhausted," Dad explained. "It wouldn't be a fair fight."

"Who cares about **fair**?" Yamcha asked.

"You fool. Always the hero," Cell told my father. "You don't get that this will be your doom, do you? I won't decline, of course. And you'll soon regret it." Cell then ate the bean and his power returned.

"Don't blame me…!" Kuririn stammered in fear as he watched Cell.

"Goku… what you did was insanity," Piccolo warned my father.

Gohan then powered up, letting everyone get a glimpse of the power Dad had mentioned. Mostly everyone, including Cell was shocked that he was as strong as he was.

"Th-that's Gohan…?" Piccolo stammered. "…Mild-mannered Gohan…?"

Cell then said something to himself before he explained his plan: "I'll kill him before he can land a blow! Weep, Son Goku! Weep when you son dies because of your arrogance!" Cell then landed by my brother and their fight began. It immediately became clear that my brother was more than capable of holding is own against Cell.

"Tou-san, why didn't you eat a senzu bean?" I asked my dad as we watched.

"Huh? It's not necessary, Goshi," he told me in a cheerful voice. "Your brother will end this."

I glanced at him. "Tou-san, you know that feeling that you get in the pit of your stomach when something's about to go wrong - that's usually right?"

"Yeah…"

"I have that feeling now."

"Why?" he asked in a surprised voice. "Gohan has more than enough power to win."

"That's not what's bothering me." I then looked back towards my brother, who was now making Cell look almost clumsy. "Gohan's pacifistic by nature… I'm not sure if he has the _will_ to go through with this."

Dad then chuckled. "Oh yeah? Well then, if he's too pacifistic, then you're too **unpredictable**."

That made me stare at him. I was unpredictable?

"You probably have the same strength as you brother, maybe more so, but, unlike Gohan, I don't know your full temperament."

"Y-you're telling me that your _other_ brat has that kind of power as well?" Vegeta demanded of my dad, who just ignored him for the moment.

"My… temperament…?" I asked, still confused.

"Uh-huh. I don't think I've ever seen you angry or all that irritated, for that matter," Dad told me. "I have no idea how you're going to react if that happens, so I didn't want you going in."

I raised an eyebrow. There was some truth in that; Dad had never seen me irritated since the incident six years prior, but this still did not seem right. "So… you're letting my brother fight with his _explosive_ temper? I don't see the logic." Gohan might be calm most of the time, but when you got him angry, the smartest thing to do was get out of his way. Dad then smiled at me. "Wait…! _That's_ what you _want_ to happen…?"

I was about to argue with him, but Cell distracted me by throwing Gohan into a rock formation. "It's horrible-!" Kuririn stated.

"…Goku… this is all you fault…" Piccolo told my dad. "Your judgment was wrong… Everyone warned you… **YOU** KILLED GOHAN!"

"Don't jump to conclusions, Piccolo. Can't you still feel Gohan's chi?" Dad asked.

"H-he's right…" Trunks stammered.

"Son Goku! Enough of these games!" Cell told my father. "Eat your senzu and fight me once more!"

"Idiot! Look behind you!"

Cell then turned in surprise to see an irritated Gohan walking back towards him, having no injuries more serious than a cut on the forehead. The two then spoke for a moment, which caused my nerves to tighten; why couldn't Gohan just punch Cell and get it over with?

Without warning, Cell punched my brother in the face and followed with a fierce volley of punches and kicks. Gohan then managed to regain his composure and kicked the creature, knocking it to the ground. Cell then stood up and wiped some blood off its face.

Cell then shot several beams from one of its fingers. Most of us recognized it as Freeza's signature attack. Gohan managed to dodge all of them, but Cell was just using the attacks as a distraction, and got behind my brother. It then grabbed him and began to squeeze.

It was very clear that my brother was in pain, and I was beginning to debate going into help, even if my dad did not want me to. Family is family, and I think that I would have even have gone into help Dad if it was clear that he was going to die. Having someone that I care about snatched from me is something that I find to be unforgivable, not just of the perpetrator, but of myself as well.

"I can't stomach any more of this!" Piccolo shouted at my dad. "I don't care what you say! I'm going to help Gohan!"

"Piccolo, wait! You don't stand a chance!" Dad told him. "Wait just a little longer!"

"You want me to **wait**? For **what**? Wait for Gohan to be **killed**?"

"No. Wait for him to get **mad**." Dad's tone was softer. "Rage will unleash his true power. Then we'll really see something. ...Our only hope… to beat Cell… is the power inside Gohan."

"Goku, you're mistaken," Piccolo told my father urgently. "Your son does not have your warrior's stomach! Does he even know about this plan? Did you discuss it with him first?" Dad then looked back at Piccolo with shock, for the first time. "Do you know what's in Gohan's mind right now? Well, it's not rage! He's thinking, 'Why won't Tou-san help me when I'm in so much pain? Does he care more about the rules of this fight than my **life**?' However strong he may be, he's still a child! I don't care if I die! I'm going!"

"Told you, Tou-san," I said through my teeth as I continued to watch my brother. I was going to give him about a minute longer before I decided to take over. Gohan had his chance!

"Kuririn, give me a senzu!" Dad shouted at his old friend.

"Y-you got it!"

Cell then just let go of my brother. It then said something to him before it charged at us. "NO! STOP IT!" Gohan shouted.

That did it. When Cell just about reached us, I moved from my spot, got in front of it, and kicked it as hard as I could. It was sent flying into a different rock formation, and I watched for it to return. Cell quickly recovered and returned to the air near us. I heard everyone gasp behind me.

"My, _that_ was quite unexpected," it said. "I didn't know that the daughter also had such power."

"You were fighting Gohan…" I told him sharply. Since Gohan was now free and could still fight, I wanted to interfere as little as possible until I was sure that my brother could **not** handle this. My job was now to keep this _thing_ away from everyone else.

"Your brother's being rather unresponsive at the moment, and I'm looking to find some fun from a different source."

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. "And that makes you think I'm going to let you through?"

It laughed. "You've certainly got a lot more spunk than your brother. Maybe you'll be more interesting to fight."

I immediately put myself into a defensive position, and that seemed to disturb Gohan. "GOSHI!" he yelled at me in more of a worried tone. "DON'T FIGHT IT!"

"AND WHY SHOULDN'T I?" I demanded of him, which caused him and everyone else to stare at me. "YOU'RE NOT DOING ANYTHING! AND YOU'RE THE ONE TOU-SAN WANTED TO FINISH THIS!"

"B-but…" He seemed to be bothered by something I had said. "BUT I'M NOT LIKE YOU! I CAN'T…!" his voice seemed pained.

I immediately interrupted him. "WILL YOU MAKE UP YOUR MIND, ALREADY?" I roared. "FIRST YOU SAY THAT YOU WANT TO DO SOMETHING, AND THEN YOU TAKE IT BACK. WELL, WHICH IS IT? ARE YOU GOING TO SAVE EVERYONE, OR LET THEM ALL DIE**?**"

"WELL, WHAT ABOUT YOU?" Gohan demanded of me. His tone was now irritated; my words had hit home. "AREN'T YOU GOING TO DO SOMETHING?"

I smiled sardonically at him. "THIS ISN'T MY FIGHT, OTOTO-KUN (1)," I told him with a voice that matched my grin. "BESIDES, COULD YOU REALLY LIVE WITH YOURSELF IF YOU ALLOWED A GIRL TO PICK UP _YOUR_ SLACK?"

"WHAT DO YOU KNOW?" he snapped, which made everyone turn back towards him.

"I KNOW THAT I SEE A YOUNG BOY TOO AFRAID TO FIGHT!"

"SHUT UP GOSHI! I'LL SHOW YOU WHO'S AFRAID!" he snapped at me; anger finally breaking through his moral dilemma. He then turned to look at Cell, "HEY! I THOUGHT YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO ME FIGHTING ME!"

Cell then looked at me closely, which made my grin increase in size. "You wanted my brother angry, and now he is. Have fun."

It then smiled, thinking that I did something rather foolish and rushed back to restart the fight with my brother. I then returned to the rock formation so I could watch the action more comfortably. "That went rather well," I told my dad, who was looking at me with a dumbfounded expression.

"D-did you just _purposely_ tick your brother off…?" Kuririn stammered.

"Uh-huh!" I told him happily. "Gohan needed some encouragement, and siblings always know the best way to get each other angry." I then turned to Dad. "I just can't understand why you didn't let me do that to Gohan while you were trying to get him to become a Super Saiyan." Dad just laughed at me while wearing that same expression.

Vegeta then chuckled, which somewhat startled me. "I would never have guessed that Kakarrot's daughter was the most devious out of all of us." I frowned at him since I was not sure if he was joking or if that was an actual compliment.

It was then that I noticed that something was wrong with Gohan's fight. Cell was once again gaining the upper hand. "S-shoot!" I said urgently; my happiness immediately evaporating. "He didn't get angry enough!"

"W-what?" mostly everyone yelled.

"H-he has too much self-control!" I then bit my lip. "Darn it! Gohan, this is not the time to worry about that!"

Just then, Cell kicked my brother into a different pile of rocks. It looked like Cell was going to attack him again, but then something unexpected happened. Juurokugou appeared from out of nowhere and grabbed Cell.

"When did he get there?" Dad asked, rather alarmed.

"He's a machine!" Piccolo explained. "His energy can go undetected!"

"Juurokugou is going to fight Cell!" I could not tell if Kuririn was happy or upset by that.

Trunks was definitely not thrilled (or was he, since I doubted he had gotten over his aversion to androids). "He doesn't stand a chance!"

"FORGIVE ME FOR SACRIFICING ALL OF YOU!" Juurokugou told us, which caused us to stare at him in alarm. "I'LL HAVE TO BLOW MYSELF UP WITH CELL!"

"W-WHAT?" most of us yelled.

"THIS IS THE FINAL POWER I WAS NEVER TO USE!" Juurokugou continued. "NONE OF YOU CAN SURVIVE A BLAST AT SUCH CLOSE RANGE!" He then concentrated on detonating.

We all waited for the blast to occur… but it didn't… Even Juurokugou was surprised that nothing had happened. "Juurokugou…" Kuririn called out to him. "You **can't** blow yourself up! When they fixed you at Capsule Corp… Dr. Briefs found this bomb hidden in your body! He took it out because it was too dangerous!"

Cell seemed amused by that and used the moment to destroy Juurokugou with a chi blast, which shocked most of us. It then said something to Juurokugou's head, which had fallen by its feet, before he kicked it. Cell then looked over at the rest of us.

It then did something very strange, and the next thing I knew, Cell somehow created eight miniature versions of itself; one for each of us on the cliff.

"What… **are** those…?" Piccolo demanded as we watched in horror.

Cell then commanded them to come after us, and they did, with full force! "WATCH OUT!" Dad yelled. "THESE GUYS ARE MEAN!" Vegeta and Trunks transformed in response.

…

What are these creatures that Cell created? And what do they have in store for our heroes? And what about Gohan? Can he summon the strength to put an end to all of this? Find out on the next episode of dragonballz!

* * *

1 Ototo means younger brother. Kun is added as a term of endearment.


	24. Conclusions

The miniature Cells came charging at us with amazing speed. "KILL THEM!" I heard Vegeta yell before there was one standing in front of me. An all-out brawl had started within moments; each of us against one of these creatures.

It was incredibly difficult, and out of all of us, Trunks, Vegeta, and I were fairing the best. Dad was just too worn out from his fight, and the others just didn't have the strength. These creatures were just too fast, which was the main problem. Even if you had the strength to kill one of these things, it did not matter in the least since you could not hit them.

"You know what…?" I hissed at the one facing me. "I've had enough of this! RITSUZEN!" The shaky looking red wave looked like it hit its mark, but when the light and smoke cleared from it, I learned that the only thing I did was blow off the thing's arm! Then, it just regenerated its arm. "YOU'VE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!" I yelled as it attacked me again.

I could barely keep track of what was going on around me as this thing would not let up its attack. But, what I did know, was that Gohan was just on the ground, near the original Cell, looking on in shock, and that my father was in a really bad position. I wanted to help him, but that was impossible unless I could figure out a way to stop the creature in front of me.

I don't know how long it was when Cell yelled, "All right, Cell Juniors! Enough fooling around! You can kill them now if you want! DO IT! KILL THEM!"

I was not too sure what exactly happened next, but I did know that somehow, Juurokugou's head was thrown near my brother. I guess he/it said something since Cell seemed to chuckle and then it destroyed that remaining bit of the android. Then, Gohan just… exploded!

There is no other word for the surge of chi that we felt coming from him. It's just beyond description! But it did catch everyone's attention. It was about then that I noticed that it almost seemed like lightning bolts were infused with the aura created by his chi.

"Now you're in for it… **all** of you," Gohan hissed. Cell just scoffed at him, but it was soon left speechless as my brother hurried over to us and killed all eight of the miniature Cells effortlessly. After he was done, Gohan just looked at us to make sure that everyone was all right.

"Gohan… please end this quickly!" I requested of him. "It needs to be stopped: now!" My brother smirked at me briefly before he turned his attention back towards Cell.

It was then that I noticed that Trunks was giving the senzu beans to everyone. He came over to me last. "You're brother's really something," he told me. "There might just be hope after all."

"Yeah…" I was hesitant about saying anything. The horrible sinking feeling that I had previously was growing worse. Why? Everything should be fine now? I just did not understand it.

It was then that Cell finally let us have a glimpse of his full power. It was terrifying, and it nearly blew some of us away. "This… is Cell's full power at last…" Dad said almost breathlessly.

"I feel the whole planet trembling…" Kuririn added.

Cell then launched an attack at my brother and punched him in the face. Gohan was barely fazed by it, which caused Cell to attack again. My brother blocked the punch and delivered his own to the creature's stomach. After doubling over in pain, it took a swipe at my brother, which was dodged.

Gohan then delivered an uppercut to the creature's chin that was so powerful that it almost knocked it to the ground. Cell's eyes were bugging out, so to speak, as realization set in.

My brother than approached it, which caused it to tremble (something that I secretly took pleasure in). It then launched a kick at my brother, which was blocked, and then Gohan delivered one of his own, that finally sent Cell into the dirt.

When Gohan approached it again, Cell definitely was afraid, and it immediately took off into the air and prepared a Kamehameha. "That… monster!" Dad said as he realized what he was going to do.

"Yes! A Kamehameha at full power!" Cell yelled. "Dodge and the earth will be pulp! You'll have to take it head on!"

Gohan stared at him, unblinkingly. The attack was then released and as it was just about to hit him, Gohan launched an even bigger one of his own that not only deflected the attack, but sent it back at Cell! It was severely damaged from the attack.

"That shrimp fired an even **bigger** Kamehameha…!" Vegeta said disbelievingly as he stared at my brother.

Gohan then just stood there, willingly! He could have finished Cell of in that instant! "Gohan, what are you doing?" Dad demanded urgently of him. "Finish it! FINISH CELL OFF!"

"Already?" my brother asked uncaringly. He then chuckled. "Sorry, Tou-san. It deserves to suffer more."

"What… **What** did you say?" Dad asked in an absolutely stunned voice. I was just as stunned. Gohan _never_ acted like that! It wasn't part of his personality!

"What's come over him?" Piccolo asked. He was just as stunned.

Cell then began to regenerate. "Gohan!" Dad yelled. "You're the only one who can finish it – Do it now! Don't let it get desperate! We don't know what it'll do!"

Gohan just smiled at him as Cell finished regenerating. "Y… YOU… ARE… **GONNA PAY!**" Cell shouted when he was finished. It then powered more than I could believe it could, and its muscles became gianormous! Yeah, gianormous is not a word, but it's the only word that fits.

He then landed in front of my brother and stared at him with bugging out eyes. "I… WILL… **NEVER**… LOSE TO A **THING** LIKE **YOU**!" It then threw a punch at my brother, which Gohan easily dodged. Cell seemed surprised and tried again; Gohan dodged that one as well.

"It transformed to maximize power… and lost speed!" Trunks observed. "It's the same mistake it mocked me for! It's blinded my rage!"

Gohan then charged the creature and nailed it in the face. It seemed to really affect it, and a moment later it spit Juuhachigou out of its mouth! Once I regained control of my stomach, I realized that it had changed forms, I guess back to its second stage.

"It turned back…!" Trunks said, confirming my thoughts. "It's not 'complete' anymore!"

"Figures," my brother snorted. "I guess that's it for you then."

"No… I… won't… I WON'T ACCEPT THIS!" Cell yelled. It then did something strange and began to blow up like a balloon.

"W-what…? What's it doing?" Yamcha as well as the rest of us were puzzled and worried.

Cell laughed. "Everybody say goodbye! I'm… going to self-destruct… in sixty seconds! I'LL DIE… BUT SO WILL **YOU**! THE WHOLE EARTH… WILL GO **WITH** ME!"

"W-WHAT?" Gohan demanded in disbelief.

"SELF… DESTRUCT…?" Vegeta repeated.

Cell laughed again. "It's too late to grovel! **I** can't stop it now either!"

My brother placed himself back into a fighting stance. "I WON'T LET YOU!"

"STOP! I'd advise you not to attack! I'll explode the instant I'm hit! You'll be just as dead – but a little bit sooner!" It then laughed again. "Thirty… more… seconds…"

"Now what?" Yamcha demanded. "We have to do something!"

"It's… no use…" Piccolo told us. "There's nothing… that can be done…"

"Twenty seconds…" Cell's voice was maniacal. Gohan then fell to the ground in anger and defeat.

As Cell began to laugh again, Dad turned to us with a serene smile. "What is it, Goku?" Kuririn asked.

"I've been thinking… and I can't come up with another way to save the earth," he told us.

"What…?"

Dad then turned to me. "I wished I could have seen you grow up a little more, Goshi. Don't be too rough on your brother, okay?" He then turned to Trunks. "Please, prevent her from following me…" He smiled again and raised his fingers to his forehead. "Bye, guys."

"G-Goku…" Kuririn's whole demeanor was of shock. "You're kidding… right?"

"Four… more… seconds," Cell told us. "THE GAME… ENDED IN A DRAW… AND THAT MEANS… EVERYBODY LOSES!"

Dad then teleported. I immediately tried to follow him. "TOU-SAN! NO!" Trunks grabbed me at that point, and prevented me from going forward. "LET GO OF ME!" I roared at my Sensei before I reached out towards my father again. "TOU-SAN… PLEASE!"

Dad was then where Cell was. He said something to Gohan before he teleported himself and Cell somewhere out of sight and off the planet.

A moment later, emptiness flooded me. My dad's presence was gone: he was dead.

…

Sobbing… That's all I could do as reality hit me after the surreal disbelief finally left me. Trunks, who was still holding on to me, was attempting to comfort me as he let me cry into his shoulder. He understood that I could not be consoled at this particular moment.

Dad was… gone… He was really gone… The man who could do anything… who was everyone's protector… was gone. I felt so empty. I barely got a chance to know him, and he was my own father! I should have done something! It… didn't have to turn out this way…!

"Goshi-kun…" Trunks said softly as he stroked my hair. "Don't you think we should go over to your brother?"

"NO!" I nearly shouted through a voice horse from crying. Anger immediately flooded me: Gohan could have prevented this!

"I know you're upset with him… I can understand why…" Trunks was trying to be soothing. "But… I think that Gohan-san's hurting just as badly or possibly more, than you are…" I made some sort of noise in reply, and he seemed to take it as a 'yes,' causing him to physically pick me up and carry me over to my brother.

"Goshi…" Gohan said in a pleading and mournful voice when Trunks finally convinced me to face my brother.

"Please… just… don't talk…" I told him. My tears had finally stopped, but that did not mean that they were not locked away for good.

"Give him a break, Goshi…" Kuririn told me. I turned to him so he could see my expression, but the pain dissipated slightly as curiosity made itself known. He was holding Juuhachigou.

"What are you doing with that **machine**?" Vegeta demanded of him. "Destroy it if it's still functional!"

"B-but she's a person…"

A sudden wind rose up from behind us along with a horribly familiar chi, but it couldn't be!

A beam then shot out from the smoke that was created from the wind. I felt it just miss my head... I then turned to witness Trunks, my teacher and my friend, fall, in slow motion, to the ground with a hole blown through his chest.

A laugh rang through the air. "Who did I hit?" it asked. "…ah. Trunks."

"Wh-why…?" Yamcha stammered. "**Why** is it alive?"

Cell laughed again. "You seemed surprised! I was too. Quite a stroke of luck on my part. There's a small cluster of cells in my head. It makes up my 'core.' If that cluster isn't destroyed, my body can go on regenerating, even if only microscopic pieces remain. When I self-destructed, my core was unharmed… I really hadn't counted on regenerating. I was lucky. Even better, now I'm complete without Juuhachigou. And I've powered up like Son Gohan. It must have been my Saiyan cells – a boost in power after a brush with death. I've even learned to teleport like Son Goku. So I've come back more perfect that **ever**. Son Goku didn't defeat me at all. He just made me **better**."

Gohan smiled and powered up again. That seemed to amuse Cell. "…Hm? What's so funny? Have you gone insane?"

"My Tou-san died because I was arrogant. I'm glad I can avenge his death," Gohan told him. "I just wish I'd killed you earlier."

"Oh, really. Haven't we been here before? I don't think it'll work out as well for you this time."

"T… Trunks…" Vegeta stammered before he yelled and charged Cell in a blind rage and attacked it. Vegeta just threw chi blast after chi blast at it until he had vented enough. Cell was unfazed and knocked him to the ground.

"Vegeta – die!" Cell said as he shot a beam at the downed Saiyan.

Gohan was going to try to stop it, but I beat him to it, and deflected the blast. "Oh!" Cell said in false surprise as he noticed me. "I won't think you'd be foolish enough to get involved Goshi."

I looked up at him with tears streaming down my face. "You took both of them away from me…" I said quietly.

"Huh? What was that?" Cell asked as he acted like he was hard of hearing. "I couldn't quite hear you."

"YOU KILLED BOTH THEM!" I yelled before I charged at the creature. I did not care what it might do to me as the only thing I cared about was beating it into a pulp! I just did as many attacks as I could until it felt like someone stopped me.

I could have almost sworn that someone told me, "No… that's not the way…" I don't know if that happened or not, but I did stop, and my brother came to my side.

"Enough fooling around," Cell said as it wiped some blood from its mouth. "I've let this go on too long." It then put its hands in the signature position for the Kamehameha wave. "None of you will walk away. **YOU WILL DIE – ALONG WITH THE EARTH!**"

I heard the others mumble different things as Cell powered up. I was too numb to listen clearly; thinking hurt too much. Cell just laughed at us. "**I HAVE ENOUGH CHI TO BLOW AWY THE ENTIRE SOLAR SYSTEM!** COME ON YOU TWO! MAKE YOUR LAST STAND!"

"…Just get it over with…" Gohan told it. "I know it's pointless to resist… I just wish I'd been able to finish you first…"

"Well, this will be a dull ending! Well, I won't complain! **Oblivion to everything!**"

"DON'T YOU DARE GIVE UP!" a voice yelled at both Gohan and me.

"T-TOU-SAN?" we both asked after staring at each other. "B-BUT… WHERE **ARE** YOU?"

"The afterlife! The Lord of the Worlds is helping me talk to you!" he told us happily. "Now come on! Fire off a Kamehameha, just like Cell! You can win! I know it!"

"But… what good would it do now? I've lost half my chi…" Gohan objected.

"I'm going to help too, you know…" I told my brother quietly.

"That's the spirit Goshi!" Dad said. "You can do it! Believe in yourself! One last time – show me the power we made together!" We agreed. "There we go! I don't want to have died for nothing! Avenge me and Kaio-sama!"

"…Sorry, Tou-san…" Gohan apologized. "I let you die because I got too cocky…"

"Forget about it!" Only Dad could wave something like death off. "I'm havin' a great time here with the Lord of Worlds! You two have fun on earth! Got it?"

"GOT IT!" Gohan and I answered confidently. The two of us then powered up and prepared our own versions of Dad's favorite attack.

"DIE!" Cell yelled as he let his go, causing us to do the same.

It was a stalemate. Neither of the attacks would give way to the other, even though it seemed like our combined attack was slightly more powerful that its. "HANG ON! HANG ON!" Dad told us. "NEITHER OF YOU HAVE USED ALL YOUR POWER YET! LET IT RIP!"

Gohan then complained about not having enough power. Dad rebuked him. "You're holding back! Trying not to destroy the planet! Let go! The dragon balls can fix it!" It was then that Cell was distracted by Vegeta. "**NOW!**" Dad yelled, and we poured everything we had into the attack.

When the smoke cleared… Cell was finally gone for good.

…

I barely remember anything specific about the time we then spent at the Lookout as we called upon the dragon balls. The only two things I remember is that as soon as Trunks came back, I went over and hugged him. He meant so much to me… and now that he was back, he was going to leave again. I didn't want to let him go. I also remember that Dad directly talked to everyone saying that he did not want to be wished back to life. He said it was too dangerous for the earth, so he was going to stay dead. It just… I can't even explain the feeling I had when he said that.

After Kuririn made the second wish on the dragon balls, we all returned him so that we could rest. Trunks was going to leave the next day… and I really needed some time to myself.

…

"Come on Goshi-kun, cheer up!" Trunks told me right before he was about to leave. I had not looked him in the eyes the entire time, maybe it was because I knew that my eyes would be drawn to the black band around his arm, worn to mourn my father's death. "It's not like I'm going to be gone forever!"

He then knelt down and lifted up my chin before he handed me something. "T-this is…!" I stammered as I recognized the feel of the communicator that his mother had been working on for some time. She had been trying to develop a way to let us stay in touch, even though we were in different times. Although it did not show, I was glad she was able to succeed.

"Yep, that's yours now. I think that Kaa-san had been planning on giving that to you this whole time." He ruffled my hair. "You know, I am going to miss having you around, but this way, we can stay in touch."

"Thanks, Trunks-nii," I told him before I suddenly hugged him. I did not want him to leave me again; he was one of three who held my life in check, and when he was gone, there would only be one left.

He then released himself from my grasp and said goodbye to everyone. He then climbed into his time machine and left, taking what was left of my heart with him.

…

Peace has finally returned to the earth, but at the cost of one of its most beloved protectors. As his family and friends adjust to life without him, time moves forward with uncertainty. What could possibly be in store for our heroes now? Find out on the next episode of Dragonballz.


	25. A Different Opinion

Tale of a Mistake

Based off the manga Dragonball by Toriyama Akira

Story by ayamari no Goshi

**Hey, it's Ayamari no Goshi here. I just wanted to introduce you to my partner in crime, kodoku no oujo, who wrote this chapter. I've known her since middle school and she's been my editor, co-writer, and collaborator since I started this project. She was also the first person who got to read it... back when it sucked (that was a long time ago).  
**

**I view oujo as an exceeding good writer and I hope you share my opinion. If you have time, go look up her other works, only make sure you CHECK the SUMMERY! She's a **_**little**_** more risqué than I am.  
**

**Okay, I'm done now. Enjoy!**

* * *

_((Seven years later….))_

The whole room was bubbling with excitement.

When I said "bubbling with an excitement," I may be overreacting. But it's the only term I could come up with that could express how annoyed I was with my fellow classmates. And all over what? Some annoying new "super hero" that randomly showed up in town coincidentally after a paired of golden haired "warriors" arrive on the scene of Herculopolis.

Oh shit. Sorry. I forgot to explain a few things, didn't I? I'm a bad narrator. Here I am rambling on like you know exactly what happening. Damn it. Better start off with who I am.

My name is Reishi and I'm a student at Orange Star high school in the busy city of Herculopolis, named after its savior, Hercule-sama. And as even though my ego would never allow me to admit it out loud, I'm just an average, if not less than, girl. There's not one single thing that I can think of that would make me stand out from the rest of the crowd. I would say that my blonde hair would let me stand out somewhat, if it wasn't for the fact that as of late, super human blondes have been popping up quiet recently, making my only somewhat memorable quality pale in comparison.

Not like it bothered me.

I was above that.

At least that was the way that portrayed myself. And I had worked damn hard to make that image for myself for my peers to believe that. To them I was too good to waste my time with their small and insignificant interest and hobbies, so I went out of my way to purposely not join any after school clubs. They were a waste of time anyways. To them I was too pretty (almost border lining the approachable level), so I chose to surround myself with other beautiful people, my so called "friends." Others who thought along the same lines that I did. I guess it was good to be surrounded by other like one's self. At least I wasn't alone. And finally I was seen as the type of person who did not care about school and homework. Thinking such things, for someone like me, were just a waste of time, so I stopped caring about my grades and hope of attending college, much to my mother disappointment. Oh well, she had my older sister. She was the perfect child. Not me.

I guess you could say that I molded myself after other's perception of me… And you would be right on the dot with that conclusion.

But I saw nothing wrong with that. It was how I had lived most of my life. I hardly remembered what I used to be like. It had been so long since I had actually acted on my own accord.

But again… It wasn't like I cared. Because I was still above that.

And now onto why my classmates were excited.

Apparently there had been some crazy man proclaiming to being a super hero appear in Herculopolis last night. And all my fellow students were abuzz with questions about the mysterious new cape-wearing psycho.

I, on the other hand, was too tired to listen to their constant chatting amongst themselves. I was not tired because I happened to have stayed up most of the night while my television just happened to be fixed on the news channel with nothing but report of the stupid man dressed in a spandex jumpsuit. All of that was just a coincidence. I just happened to have a bad spell of insomnia last night.

At least that's what I kept telling myself as everyone else around insisted on talking about the masked super hero.

To be honest I would have rather had those idiots talk about those two golden warriors that had appeared in town a handful of times at most. At least they were somewhat interesting to hear about. Because they were one of the few things that I remembered from my childhood, back when I was actually Reishi and not just the person everyone thought Reishi was.

I remember seeing people like that during the live broadcast of the Cell Games. I believe that was seven years ago or so. Yes that's it. That was when Hercule-sama had made a name for himself and become the world's savior.

I could care less.

Back then, when the television stations had all been focused on the fight that would decide the fate of humanity, my attention was sully captivation by the odd group of people standing some distance away from Hercule. They were different from regular humans; that much I know for sure. And I think it became obvious when one of them went up against Cell.

I can't remember his name, or if the spiky blonde-haired man's name had even been mentioned during the entirety of the fight, but all I know is that he had been the single most amazing person my young eyes had ever seen. I was so very disappointed when I had finally heard that Hercule was the one to stop Cell instead of those odd blonde warriors.

But that was long ago, and not one of the people currently around me knew of my old obsession. And it was better that way. For that would destroy my image that I had worked so hard to create.

It would mean that I actually cared about something.

There was another reason why everyone was so excited. It was because of the new transfer student that had arrived yesterday.

Son Gohan.

There was supposed to be another to arrive yesterday (his sibling, I believe), but the other had never shown up to class. The other Son kid must be a fucking genius then. Realizing that this place was not worth their time.

But new students always made my fellow classmates excited, especially if they were not from Herculopolis. I think I heard Erasa shout out something about the East 439 region, but I'm sure that bimbo had to be mistaken. That was hours away! No way a guy could commute that far of a distance. Maybe that was his old home and she merely got it wrong. It wouldn't surprise me.

The new student wasn't here yet. And so, everyone freely talked about him. My _friends_ included.

"You'd think that we'd be at least, like, lucky enough to get an _interesting_ new student around here." Kozoe chimed in as she drawled out her sentence in her supposed boredom, while doing nothing to stop that stupid Nagoya accent(1) from slipping out of her mouth. I would tell her to shut up, but I was far too tired to pick my head off my desk to bother with it.

"Oh right. You girls skipped out on gym yesterday, didn't you?" Kisuke said, acting as if he knew everything, like usual. I would have snapped back at him with a comment on how retarded his bleached and spiked haired look, but once again I was too tired. "The little freak jump, I swear, thirty feet into the air."

"You're exaggerating." Yuki said, her voice laced with her doubt. I don't blame her. Kisuke was full of it. "It couldn't have been more than ten. Anything else is just physically impossible and that's even stretching it." For how smart and rational Yuki was most of the time, I had to wonder why she hung out with the rest of these losers and fakes that I called my friends. She could obviously find others closer to her intellect.

"No he's not!" Touji chimed in, ready to back up his best friend Kisuke. "I saw it with my own eyes. I was out in the outfield with him when he did it!" And now I remembered Yuki's reasons for hanging with us. Her "secret" crush. Gods. No one could _possibility_ tell she liked him with the way she hung on his every word and stared at the guy constantly. She was very discrete.

Being with these people, sarcasm became a second language to me.

"Shut the Hell up, Touji!" I finally yelled from my seat, never moving my face off of the desk and thus making my voice slightly muffled. "I'm trying to sleep here!"

"Someone partied too hard last night?" Kozoe asked. I swear I've never heard a more annoying voice than hers.

"Mff." was my only reply as I tried to let sleep claim me once again.

"Eh? You went partying without us, Reishi?" Kisuke whined as he leaned closer, invading the area around me that at one point in my life had been known as my personal space. I guess I just got use to people being so close to me that I just didn't care anymore.

"I didn't go partying." I mumbled, just hoping that they would let me sleep. Though knowing my _friends_, they wouldn't.

"I bet she got some." Kozoe said with a sly grin spreading across her face. She knew just how to annoy me. "That's, like, probably why she's so tried." As her and Yuki giggled, she nudged me with her elbow and had I been more awake and alert I might have at least shoved her back. Her bony elbows really hurt when they dug in between my ribs.

"You fucked someone last night too?" I could hear the jealousy and anger in Kisuke's voice and I just couldn't make myself care enough to defend myself from Kozoe's little assumptions or to even try to console Kisuke. I could be a party girl. I could be a whore. They could come up with anything they wanted, because nothing they said bothered me. It just all added to that image I made for myself. Like adding fuel to the fire.

That's so sick. But then again, I wasn't supposed to care, right?

"Hey, there's the new kid!" Kozoe said ever so inconspicuously as Son Gohan walked into the classroom, making Kisuke cease in his whining about what I had been doing last night. I lifted my head slightly to watch the boy walk over to take his seat next to Erasa, Videl and Sharpner. I let out a sigh of frustration as he began to nervously chat with Erasa. Videl seemed to always be staring over at the kid and Sharpner added in a few words of his own probably to assert his masculinity. My lips formed into a pout when I saw Gohan laughed nervously along with them as Sharpner probably just made a joke about him.

They looked… happy.

I wondered if other groups of friends actually acted civil with each other instead of hanging around with each other of out convenience or if it was just something that kids outside of the city did.

Reluctantly, I took my eyes away from the new kid, not wanting to look at him interact with other people any longer, and tried to let my tired eyes get the sleep that they so desperately craved. But as fate would have it, I would not be able to do so.

Suddenly the room quieted down somewhat, mostly like because the teacher had just walked in, and my curiosity got the better of me and forced my tired eyes to peek open for a second. My gaze locked onto his ancient suit and bowtie (the stupid suit was such an eyesore) right as the old man cleared his throat in order to silence the classroom. I jerked by body up right to avoid getting in trouble, but I sat up a little too fast and almost fell back over due to the sudden dizziness that had come over me. I steady myself and ignored Kozoe's annoying snicker. I swear one day I'm going to punch that fake orange tan right off her smug face. Or at least I'll day dream about doing that.

"Come on in." the teacher called out into the hallway. "Class I want you to meet our other new student. She was unable to attend yesterday along with her brother Son Gohan-kun."

I wasn't prepared for what walked through the classroom door.

The person could have passed for Son Gohan's _clone_ let alone his _sibling_! And I was pretty sure that yesterday both the teacher and Gohan had both said something about an older _sister_, not a _brother_. It might have been my half delirious state, but I was sure that this person standing in the front of the class looked more masculine than Gohan (the nerdy ones always give off that weak and girly feel).

The teacher looked as if he had just whispered something to the new student, which was mostly him trying to get it (I'm currently deciding this new student's gender) to introduce itself. After a few seconds it turned to face the class and finally spoke. "My name is Son Goshi," it said as it glared around the room, its eyes cold and its body language giving off an impression that this Goshi would rather be anywhere else on Earth than in this classroom. I couldn't blame it. This place sucked.

"Take an empty seat." The teacher quickly told Goshi before it walked up reluctantly to its brother and sat in the seat next to him. It looked like Erasa tried to start up a conversation with it all while Gohan answered nervously for his sibling, considering Goshi choose to rather look out the window instead of pay attention to the girl.

I believe it must have been a lack of sleep that cause me to do it, because I usually have more control over myself and my actions, but I could not stop the words that slipped from my mouth.

"Are you a boy or a girl?"

I must have asked the question rather loudly for the entire room went deadly silent, including the teacher who was in the middle of taking roll. The other students burst out laughing at my question and I quickly went along with them for acting like I meant to ask the question would fit into my image.

Goshi seemed to have known that I was the one who asked that embarrassing question for she slowly turned her head around so that her dark eyes could glare at me. My trained smirk almost slipped from my face when Goshi turned her back around so that it could gaze yet again out the window, completely ignoring me like I was nothing compared her… just a slight annoyance.

I was not going to stand for that.

"Everyone quiet down this instant!" The teacher yelled before he resumed roll call.

I felt a pat on my back and few hushed laughs closing in around me as I continued to stare dumbfounded at the very first person to ever just brush me off like that. "Way to go, Reishi!" Kozoe said as she nudged my side with her boney elbow once again.

"Oh man that was priceless!" Kisuke chuckled under his breath as he tried to keep his voice down.

"She looked kind of pissed at you, Reishi." Yuki said a little nervously. "And she seems a little more… wild than her brother. What if she attacks you or something for embarrassing her on her fist day of school?" Sometimes I really hoped that Yuki would get a new crush other than Touji. She cared too much to hanging around these other idiots who enjoyed nothing more than finding reasons why they were better than everyone else. Maybe on our last day of our final year I'll tell her.

"Like she'd have the balls to pick a fight with Reishi." Kisuke crudely replied back. "Everyone knows that if you cross Reishi they'll deal with me and Tou here." I barely paid attention to Kisuke punch Touji's arms harder than he really should have, causing the other to shove him back equally as hard in weird playful manner that the manly men I hung around often took without each as they both tried to assert their masculinity.

Still a little dazed from being ignored so easily, I just sort of let my mouth run away with me again. "I'm not so sure that she doesn't." I half mumbled, unaware that it would break my friends from their previous focus and listen in of what I had to say.

"Like, what do you mean by that?" Kozoe asked. It was obvious that she was missing the point, along with the other three people around me.

"Balls. I'm not entirely convinced it's a girl." I casually replied back, trying my hardest to keep my voice down to a whisper less I attract Goshi's or the teacher's attention once again. I do stand to not draw attention to myself twice within the same five minutes.

"So… you weren't just, like, joking around when you asked her that?" Kozoe pushed further, almost as if she was enjoying herself as she tried to break my image down. Like she could do that. I couldn't even do that.

"You're such a dumb piece of shit." I sighed.

"Hey!"

The idiot let her voice lift up from the whispers that we had been using with one another into a high pitched shriek and I could feel myself developing a headache. "Quiet down all of you! I mean it!" the teacher roared, causing the idiotic girl beside me to sink down further into her seat as an annoying pout sprouted onto her orange-ish face. She sent me a glare, but then left the matter alone. The way she turned away from me in her embarrassment made Kisuke and Touji chuckle like morons. True I probably didn't need to insult her like that, but my limit was wearing thin today. Hopefully I could get through the rest of the day and avoid lashing out at my "friends" and stupid comments.

To make sure of that, I decided to stop talking completely and let myself get some sleep that I wish I had gotten last night.

…

I remember waking to a beeping sound. I half thought that I was back home and that my alarm was trying to pull me from my peaceful slumber. It was only when the beeping stopped of its own accord that I realized that it couldn't have been my alarm clock. Slowly I opened my eyes to see a frantic Videl running out of the classroom, bidding the elderly woman behind the front desk (classes must have changed while I slept) before she disappeared from sight.

Needless to say the two new students were very confused at the sudden outburst from girl and why she was able to leave the classroom so freely. I notice Erasa explained what was going on to both Gohan and Goshi, but considering that nothing out of the ordinary (for Orange Star high school, at least) was going on, I decided to let my eyes shut again. I don't think I was even out for more than an hour or so before Videl's watch woke me. So I was definitely going to need to sleep at least until lunch to be even half coherent.

As I laid my head back down upon the smooth surface of the desk and let my tired eyes, which undoubtedly were going to have bags under them if I continued to avoid sleep, close once again and let out a soft sigh. And I would have been content to just fall right back asleep had it not been the second interruption to my nap that came up, I swear, no more than a minute later.

"EXCUSE ME…!" a loud frantic shout came from somewhere in front of me, causing my eyes to snap open and my body to practically fall out of my chair from the rude awakening. "MAY I GO TO THE RESTROOM?" When I steady myself and my heartbeat I realized that the person who had shouted was Son Gohan and that I had not been the only one pulled from the peace and quiet of the classroom and practically scared stiff.

Before the teacher could really say anything, the boy was up and out of his seat and running toward the only exit out of the room. I could help but momentarily wondered how badly that kid must have to go in order to for him to run to desperately out of the classroom.

I sighed out of frustration and let my head rest back down on my arms, hoping that this time I would be able to sleep for more than a minute without being woken up so abruptly. I remember before I closed my eyes for good that Goshi was staring toward the classroom door wearing an expression that was an odd mixture of embarrassment and disgust. I brushed it off as nothing but siblings being ashamed by one another and closed my eyes tightly (because maybe if I closed my eyes tight enough, nothing would wake me up this time) and drifted back to sleep.

Luck was not on my side today.

"YOU GOTTA EAT MORE FIBER, MAN!" some yelled some time later. I was thankful that I did not jump out of my seat this time and just settled for grumbling to myself as my, more than likely, bloodshot eyes glared at a random spot on the wall and cursed every god I knew of for my horrid luck and lack of sleep.

I was never watching the news again. No matter what kind of spandex wearing freak was on it.

…

Lunch could not have come any sooner. I was steadily leading myself into a progressively bad mood, considering my attempts to sleep through class had been a bust which left me with the only option of actually staying awake. As soon as the bell for the lunch break rang I immediately shoved Kisuke out of his chair, making him practically collapse on the ground beside his seat.

"What the Hell, Reishi?" he asked, annoyance showing as he lowered his voice somewhat.

"Go pick me up some melon bread and a juice box before everything is gone." I ordered. At the very least I hoping that something good to eat would lighten my spirits somewhat.

Melon bread would hopefully do just that.

"Does this mean that we'll just be eating in the classroom today?" Touji asked as he watched Kisuke begrudgingly pick himself off of the floor, not bothering to help in the least.

"Un. It's too hot outside today. I'd rather stay in the nice air conditioned building." I replied back as I lazily watched my four friends walk out of the classroom so that they could try and get there quickly enough to get the good bread before it was all taken.

I suddenly realized that most of the class had left the room, mostly taking advantage of the nice weather and chose to eat their lunches outside. Well if they wanted to go be hot and sweaty, they could be my guest. I didn't want to risk my very pale and delicate skin getting sunburn nor did I really feel like sweating to any degree.

Picking my feet up and placing them on the desk in front of me, I leant back in my seat and relished in the calm and quiet of the classroom. It was the first moment of peace that I had really had all morning, so I was going to enjoy it.

A soft sigh slip passed my lips as I felt myself nod off a little.

I was pulled from the silence by a soft rustling sound, like someone was quieting shifting around some objects, that was coming from somewhere in front of me. I opened my blue eyes and scanned the classroom to see the new student Son Goshi sitting at her desk near the window, eating her very own packed lunch.

Well, two things from this sight shocked me. One: Goshi wasn't joining the other students outside. Two: people actually still brought homemade lunches to school?

With my curiosity peaked, I rose from my seat and slowly approached Goshi, whom to me seemed the type that was kind of anti-social. I stopped when my feet carried me all the way to her seat and stared down at the open lunch box, trying to hide the surprise that I was sure was evident in my eyes. I lost track of how long I actually stared at Goshi's lunch, but apparently it was just long enough for its owner to finally acknowledge my presence by glaring up at me.

I quickly noticed that she seemed to ooze irritation at my presence.

"What are you doing?" it asked reluctantly, almost as if by speaking to me Goshi feared that I would never leave her alone again.

"Why are you still here?"

Okay. Maybe I could have made that sound a little less rude, but I've stopped caring how things I say sound to other people.

But considering the glare that Goshi sent my way made think twice about the next time I opened my mouth. It wasn't that it was intimidating or anything. I mean I still didn't know what gender Goshi truly was. How could I be scared of a genderless freak that amazingly still packs its own lunch like the kids in primary school and junior high?

"Excuse me?" Shit. Did that angry tone in her voice mean that she was going to hit me? Fighting someone in an empty classroom didn't seem like a smart idea on my part especially. Well… Kisuke and the others would be back soon enough.

I hoped.

Well just in case maybe I should think a little before I spoke up next.

"I mean, why are you still in the classroom." I explained, hoping it was lessen her obvious annoyance toward me. It seemed to work a little, though I could tell that she would much rather have me leave like the rest of the student to go enjoy the sun, just as I would have her do the same. Huh. A similarity. That's kind of interesting.

"I can eat in the classroom if I want. Students are not limited to one room during their lunch period." Geez. Goshi talked so formally and polite, even with the annoyed tone and still growl of anger that her voice held. Would it seriously kill it to talk like the teenager it was? Even Goshi's brother seemed less uptight then it. And that was something considering Gohan also had that weird politeness about him that was borderline annoying.

"But it's nice outside." My blue eyes wandered to glance outside the large window that took up most of the wall. "Everyone goes outside when there's nice weather."

"I'm fine here, thank you."

I huffed. Goshi was more stubborn than… than… well, _ME_!

"Besides, if it's so nice outside why aren't you outside as well?" Damn it! Even her questions irritated me with their obvious arrogant tone to them and the polite speech pattern she used. If things kept up like this_ I _might be the one to hit _Goshi_, instead of the other way around. Though, considering its body type and the fact that there's a chance it might be male had me thinking that getting into a fist fight with Goshi would end up very badly for me. And personally physically pain was not something that I fancied.

So like with everything else in life that I wanted to avoid, I decided to change the subject to possible both save my skin from Goshi's wrath and to avoid telling her that my skin is only capable of being as white as snow or as red as a lobster. "You actually make your own lunch?" I asked letting my gaze move from the window over to the practically empty lunch box. Huh. I could have sworn that was full when I started talking to Goshi. No one could eat that quickly.

I think.

I heard Goshi groan. Obviously her last statement had been more rhetorical rather than an actual question and it was not inviting more conversation between the two of us. Not that I could blame her. I mean, she probably thought that I was only interested in humiliating her after that incident this morning during homeroom period. But then again, lots of people get that feeling whenever I talk to them since I've just sort of grown accustomed to letting whatever was on my mind out instead of filtering out some of the more inappropriate thoughts out.

"What's the big deal about a homemade lunch?" Goshi asked, the defensive edge to its voice coming back.

"Well no one packs their own lunch anymore. Everyone in Orange Star usually buys something from the cafeteria instead." Speaking of lunch was making me really hungry. After I finished speaking by eyes fluttered toward the classroom door, hoping that Kisuke and the others would walk through that door with my bread soon.

"Sorry, but I'm not like everyone else." Goshi replied back.

"Obviously." I sighed.

It was only after the words had left my mouth that I realized that I had probably offended Goshi with my laid back tone and how I was so quick to agree with the fact that it was different from the rest of the student body. I glanced over to judge her expression, but before I could tell if my last comment had made her angrier or not the classroom door flung open and revealed my friends with their lunches and my own.

"…" They stared at the two of us for a second before they finally muster up the courage to speak at the odd scene before them. "OI!" Kisuke shouted out as he started to stalk forward, his face scrunched up in anger. "What are you doing with Reishi?"

Wow. He really thinks that Goshi looks like it's going to hurt me? Hmm. Well maybe it might. I have been irritating Goshi all throughout lunch period, so I wouldn't put it pass the new student to want to hurt me. I'm sure most of the student body does, but does nothing about it considering the muscled company I keep.

It was then I noticed the lake of voices around me. I was surprised to notice that Goshi had yet to reply back to Kisuke's demand and instead chose to remain silent, minding her own business as it tried to ignore the new intruders into the classroom. But when I thought about it for a second, I wasn't that surprised. I mean, Goshi had tried for a good five minutes to ignore me, giving me the silent treatment as it tried to pretend that it did not care that I was stand right there, so I was sure that Goshi could withstand my friends for a few minutes at least before it gave a response.

But obviously Kisuke wasn't going to give her the chance to ignore him.

"If you looking for trouble freak, you've got it." He replied as he walked up to where Goshi and I were standing. Great. He was going to make a scene.

"Do you have to let your masculinity get the best of you all the time?" Kozoe asked as she bit into a sandwich that she must have gotten from the cafeteria. Shit. I was getting really hungry. I just wanted to go eat, but Kisuke had to go and start something with the new student. Of course. That idiot.

"Where's my lunch?" I asked, tired of other people talking when I was more hungry than anything else at the time. I was glad that Kisuke would rather focus on me than some new student that he felt would turn out to be nothing more than a freak and a nerd. Well, I couldn't blame him for the nerd part. I mean Goshi's brother was really smart so why shouldn't his _sister_, or so they say, be any different.

"Right here." Yuki said as she held out a piece of bread and began walking over to where I was. I meet her half way and ripped open the plastic covering the bread ad quickly bit into it, only to find that they hadn't gotten me the melon bread I wanted. Shit. The cafeteria must have run out of melon bread early today and they were stuck with picking from the leftovers. I should have just gone there myself. Kisuke and the others must have taken their sweet time in getting down to the cafeteria. If they had gone there right away like I wanted them to, then I would have had my melon bread right now.

"This isn't the bread I wanted." I grumbled after I swallowed the piece of bread in my mouth.

"Sorry they were out." She said, seeming to actual care that I was unhappy. I guess I could be nicer to the one person in this group that might actual be a good human being.

"Thanks." It wasn't much but it was a leap for me. And I think Yuki noticed it, since her eyes grew wider after I offered her my thanks, even if it was kind of half-assed.

"You're… You're welcome." She said back a little shock. I was glad to see that the other three had not notice the momentary break in my image, but it was only because the three of them had taken it upon themselves to hassle Goshi since they had it in their minds that she was the one bothering me instead of the other way around.

I sighed as I took another bit out of my bread. They were going to get it if they kept this up any longer and I didn't feel like getting in the line of fire. If they wanted to be on Goshi's bad side then I would let them. I would let this go on at least until I was finished with my lunch before I had enough of them torturing the new student and got bored.

"You're, like, supposed to be Gohan's older sister, right?" Kozoe drawled on with a smirk on her lips as lean against the desk space beside Goshi's seat. "You sure don't look like any girl I know."

Hearing Kozoe say that I felt the urge to speak up yet again and was too late to stop my mouth before it ran off without my knowledge. "Oh yeah. You never did answer my question." I said before I took another small bite out of my lunch. I suddenly saw every pair of eyes turn toward me as if they all had absolutely no clue as to what I was talking about. Swallowing the piece of bread in my mouth I got ready to explain myself. "You know. The question during homeroom. Are you a boy or a girl?"

Probably not the best time to bring that up but I was honestly curious.

My friends busted out laughing, seemingly unable to contain their fits of laughter from my question. Even Yuki seemed to be slightly amused about my bold question. But her smiled disappeared when her eyes looked over at Goshi and was instead replaced by a look of fear. Curious, like always, I tore my eyes away from Yuki as my mouth hovered over my bread, ready to take another bite out of my lunch, and let my blue eyes settle on the glare that Goshi was sending my way. My mouth never hit the piece of bread for I was sure that my entire body freeze as I locked eyes with the furious raven-haired person sitting no more than ten feet from where I stood. Okay. I could have gotten away with saying that Goshi wasn't scary… up until now.

The tension was broken when suddenly my eyes barely caught a glimpse of something flashing around the room before some of the lights above our heads short circuited and crackled. I heard Yuki and Kozoe scream from the sudden flash before some of the plastic casing that surrounded the artificial lighting started to break and shattered down upon and around us.

At that point scream even ripped from my own throat at the feel of small shards of plastic raining down on my head. My arms flung up over my head instinctually and felt my body being shoved toward the classroom door, most likely by either Touji or Kisuke considering the hand on my back felt larger than what a woman's hand felt like.

While Kozoe and Yuki were still screaming as the five of us ran from the room and hopefully to the safety of the hall, I turned my attention back to the area where Goshi was sitting. My eyes widen in shock and surprise when I noticed that Goshi had not move a muscle during the entire commotion with the lights. I could not help but stare back at Goshi until the very last second that I possible could before I was pushed out of the classroom completely. She hadn't moved. Everyone else had freaked out and run away from the falling plastic, but Goshi remained immobile and calm through it all. It… was the oddest thing that I had ever seen in my entire life. More disturbing than the Cell creature from seven years ago. Stranger than watching a man in spandex running around the city.

That's when I knew that Goshi was different somehow. I'm not even sure why that thought crossed my mind as the memory of her calmly sitting in her seat as the lighting flashed and sparked and the plastic covering shattered into millions of pieces, but it did. And no matter how the thought came into my mind, I knew that my curiosity would never be satisfied until I understood exactly what had happened and why Goshi refused to move.

I had to know.

…

(1) Nagoya accent is the equivalence of our Valley girl accent. Think… Paris Hilton speech. Minus the "That's hot" after every sentence XD.


	26. Day 2

I could tell as soon as I walked into the door of that classroom that it was going to be one of _those_ days. All of those staring faces and annoying people, coupled with the havoc that had occurred at home in an attempt to convince me to come to this place proved it.

But it was really nothing new.

I had been having _those _days practically every day for the last seven years. So much of my life had changed after the Cell Games, and I guess that I just never adjusted enough to actually deal with it.

From the time that I was four until I was almost ten, I had been in a state of war every single day. Then, once the nightmare was over and there was peace, nothing felt right. There were no attacks, no dangers… We had been struggling for it so long, but it really was not as fulfilling as I had hoped.

And, with nothing attacking us, it was almost as if I had lost my purpose for existing. Sure, I still trained every day, but having no practical need for it, the feeling never really subsided. And, it was that feeling was part of the reason that I had fallen into a bit of a depression. You stop caring after a while when you are depressed and cannot get out of it.

A second reason for this depression was that two people who were central to my life were now gone: my dad and my teacher. Dad passed away seven years ago, but for some reason, closure never really came for me. Then there was the matter of my teacher.

For a while, we were staying in touch by means of a device that his mother had created for us, but after a while the calls stopped coming. There was no reason for it, since it did not appear that mine was broken, so after several months, I determined that he was probably gone too.

Don't get me wrong though; I do function like a normal person. I mean I go through the motions of the day and of life, but I don't go through the motions of the person that I once was. Although my mother and brother suspect that something is wrong, they just can't be sure, since they never really got to know the person that I used to be.

Although Mother had her own reasons for wanting to send Gohan and I to school, she seemed to think that it would help me a little if I was around people my own age for the first time.

And that brings me back to the matter at hand.

Another reason that it was going to be one of _those_ days was that I had really no desire to socialize with my peers. They forgot too easily about the danger they had been in only seven years ago and idolized that fool with the afro, Hercule, who had claimed victory for the Cell Games. It aggravated me so much that I was usually was unable to be civil around them or any other normal person for that matter.

…

After being forced to introduce myself to the class, I took my seat and tried to promptly ignore everyone else in the class. I accomplished that too, unless you count the person brave enough to ask what my gender was (I had glanced back to see what kind of idiot would be so brazen).

As the classes began, I struggled to understand how my brother was able to both tolerate and like this place. Many of the kids whispered excitedly while the teacher talked, and they were loud enough to be distracting. The teacher just droned on in a monotone, which made me sleepy, and he taught material that we had already learned!

Although you will probably never hear me admit it out loud, Gohan is probably smarter than I am, and if I am bored with the topic, chances are, he is too. It was puzzling how he could stand it.

I mean, the only interesting thing that happened before lunch was that someone's alarm on their watch went off, which was then followed by a radio transmission. After it was done, a girl a few chairs over from me got up, excused herself, and ran out of the room. The girl next to Gohan explained that the girl who just left, Videl, was often called away from class by the police to help fight crime.

That would have been fine in and of its self, if my brother had not decided that he had to go help her. After loudly excusing himself for the bathroom, which was quite embarrassing, I might add, he decided to rush to her rescue as the superhero that he had created for himself the night prior. I sighed as I thought about it; if this continued, we were going to need to remove him from this school because of this contamination.

…

I was definitely glad when lunch came. It gave me a chance to attempt to get rid of the tiredness that had crept into my system during classes. Usually, I would be able to keep myself awake during such a boring day, but I had been up rather late the night before.

For a few years now, I had been noticing what appeared to be robotic scouts in the woods near our house. If they did not seem so out of place or multiply every few months, I would never have paid attention to them. Maybe it was just my distrust of robotics because of the androids and that other creature that set off the chain of events that led me to live in the future, but I was definitely paranoid about these strange things. And last night, there were so many that it seemed to take forever to locate and destroy all of them.

I could have asked my brothers for help, but they probably would not have done anything, since these scouts have never actually done any harm. I would also have had to explain what I never of them, since I never really thought that it was important to alert them, even though both of them know that I have been doing something that was out of the ordinary.

A sigh came from my lips as I tried to push thoughts of those things out of my mind. Thinking of them always seemed to exhaust me more, and that was something that I was trying to avoid, so I turned my attentions towards my lunch.

It was probably only a few moments after I had opened it when I noticed that there was someone staring at me. It was the girl from earlier who had asked my gender. She seemed to have an issue with me ignoring her and asked a rude question, which irritated me.

She seemed to be aware of that irritation and rephrased her question, to make it sound better. I replied as bluntly as possible in hopes that it would make her go away; it didn't. She just continued to pester me. Well, she did, until her friends came in, and then they took over for her.

I am not proud of what I did shortly after that started, since I lost my temper for a moment, but it did bring me peace and quiet, so it evened out. And broken lights aren't all that difficult to replace.

My reprieve did not last for very long though as Gohan ran into the room mere moments later and dragged me out of it. "What do you think you're doing!" he demanded of me once we were in a location where he thought that we were alone.

"I was trying to eat lunch," I told him with an irritated voice. "People were bothering me, and I momentarily lost control and broke a light. Nothing big. Now please, excuse me."

"And you don't think that we're going to be in trouble if they saw something!" Gohan was completely ignoring my side of the argument as he grabbed me while I attempted to walk away.

"They didn't see anything," I told him after rolling my eyes. "Yes, I just accidently destroyed a light, but I didn't attack it or anything. Trust me, I know better than to attack one of _them_; I'm not stupid you know."

"Are you sure?" he demanded of me.

"Positive." My voice was as flat as I could make it. I then stared at my brother, who eventually lowered his gaze. He was done questioning me. Satisfied, I turned to leave when my brother grabbed my shoulder. "What do you think you're doing!" I demanded.

A faint smile was on his face. "After that little demonstration, do you really think that I'm going to let you out of my sights? You're coming with me."

I was going to argue with him, but I figured that it just was not worth it. Gohan then dragged me outside where he had been sitting with his new friends, Videl, Shapner, and Erasa, I think. Erasa tried to talk to me, I guess to be nice, but I really did not reply. Other than Videl, the other two were typical in terms of personality, and it was not until they started speaking about music that I even seriously considered dealing with them.

By the time lunch was over, I had determined that Gohan's friends were tolerable.

…

A class or so later, I once again found myself incredibly bored. It was some science class, and since I had once been tutored by one of the world's greatest scientists, everything the teacher said felt more like an overly simplistic review. That made it rather difficult to stay awake, and against my will, I eventually lost the fight.

It felt like only a moment later (but probably was not), something grabbed my shoulder. My fighting instincts immediately kicked in and within a moment I had grabbed whatever the attacker was and pushed it against the wall.

"SON GOSHI!" I then heard, which brought my attention back to the matter at hand. I looked up to see that I had pinned the teacher to the wall. Ah, so I guess he had tried to wake me…

Crap! That was the one thing that I did not _want_ to do! Sure, I was bored, but I had not wanted to draw the teacher's attention to myself. I immediately released my grip and backed away from him slightly. He looked slightly alarmed, but as soon as I let go of him, that turned into anger. Yeah, I was in trouble. To make it worse, I could feel my brother's eyes boring into my back. He was just as angry with me.

"I'm sorry!" I said immediately with a slight bow, once I realized what the proper response to the current situation was. "I… don't respond very well to being grabbed in my sleep…"

"I can see that," the teacher told me in an icy tone. "Now that you're awake, maybe you can tell the class what we were discussing. Or, did you sleep through the entire thing?"

I groaned inwardly while I considered my options. I had heard of these confrontations before. Most of the time, the student would try to lie in an attempt to not be punished, but would often be humiliated by the teacher, who would often ask that student a question shortly there afterwards. If the student did tell the truth, more likely than not, they would face punishment. In both cases, the other students would tease the other one.

Although neither situation is exactly the best, I decided that the best situation would be the one that would irritate the teacher the least. If I was going to have to come to this place, I wanted to draw the least amount of attention as possible, and that was easier to do when the teacher did not view you as a problem.

"And here I thought that you were better than that," he told me angrily once I told him the truth without an excuse. Although his voice was serious, his eyes showed slight surprise.

I was then instructed to stand out in the hallway while holding to buckets that were full of water. This was supposed to make my arms ache so severely that I would not think to fall asleep again. This would work on a normal person, possibly, but I was not what you would consider to be normal.

For the ten minutes that I was 'agonizing' over my task in the hallway, I did nothing more than stare at the ceiling and daydream. When I was permitted to come back into the classroom, I tried to ignore the snickers that seemed to come from everywhere in the room.

My brother looked irritated when I took my seat. I returned the look and quickly wrote something on a slip of paper and gave it to him. It said nothing more than 'I hate this place.' Gohan seemed to understand and said nothing else to me for the rest of class.

…

"Well, I guess I don't have to ask you how you liked your first day of school," my brother said as we walked out of the school at the end of the day. His expression was one of slight amusement, but that quickly disappeared once I glared at him. "Ah, come on! It wasn't that bad!"

"You know I really don't like people…" I told him sharply. His attitude was making me more irritated than my peers had.

Gohan put his hands behind his head as we walked. "I still don't understand why we can't get you over that." He then paused for a moment, "Oh, I almost forgot," he then said suddenly, "I have to head over to Capsule Corp. Do you want to come? It might cheer you up a little."

"Weren't you just there yesterday, getting that ridiculous outfit?"

"Yeah… well… you see…" Gohan then began to explain what happened after he followed Videl earlier in the day. Long story short, she figured out who he was and blackmailed him into fighting in the Tenka'ichi Budokai and teaching her how to fly. He had to go to Capsule Corp. to figure out a way to alter his disguise some since one cannot wear a helmet in the tournament.

I just stared at him in disgust. "You go and blow your cover and then have the nerve to get on my case for blowing up a light! I have half a mind to hit you right now."

"Ah, come on Goshi," he told me in that annoying 'I'm trying to suck up to my big sister' kind of voice. "Look on the bright side, maybe you can fight in the tournament too, and if you want, you can help whip me back into shape."

I almost smiled at that one. The idea of sparring with my brother was oddly appealing, mainly because I was mad at him and because he had really slaked off on his training. Also, the option of being allowed to hit him almost made me give in.

"I'll think about it," I eventually told him. "Right now, I just want to go home and be away from all of _this_." I made a gesture to let Gohan know that 'this' meant the city in general.

"I understand. I'll see you at home." The two of us then flew off.

…

After I had gotten home, I greeted Mother and took a nap. I was really worn out and still angry from earlier, so I hoped that resting would allow me to calm down enough to be civil for the rest of the night. Also, from experience, I knew that it would be a couple days before I had to go on the lookout for those scouts, so a nap was within my realms of possibility for the night.

Goten, my youngest brother, came to wake me up for dinner some time later. He had been outside, playing, when I got home, so he had not gotten a chance to talk to me before I fell asleep. It was obvious that he was absolutely bubbling with the excitement of knowing that he could now ask me questions about my day.

I inwardly groaned. I had no desire to talk about my day or make him upset… so I was placed in an interesting situation. Thankfully, the sight of a table full of food distracted him. He was so much like Dad in that aspect.

I noticed that Gohan was home, as he was already sitting down at the table. He seemed unusually excited about something, but I paid it no mind as began to pile my plate full of food.

"Hey, Goten, did you tell Goshi about what's going to happen?" Gohan asked our brother. He stared at him blankly. I guessed Goten forgot about something Gohan had told him earlier; it was nothing new. Gohan chuckled and then turned to me. "I guess he didn't. On the day of the tournament, Tou-san's going to visit!"

Without even realizing it, I had dropped my chopsticks. I was way too busy staring at my brother. "T-tou-san's coming back….!"

"Yeah, but it's just for one day."

"But…. how!" I was beyond flabbergasted by this news. Tou-san was dead, and I did not think that the dead could come back to the world of the living.

"I don't really get it either, but Baba-san apparently can do something to let him visit for a full twenty-four hours. He contacted us when I was at Capsule Corp. to let us know. See, I told you that you should have come with me."

I knew that Gohan was teasing me again, but I paid him no mind. I was far to shocked by the news that we were going to get to see Dad again. For the first time in what felt like years, excitement was beginning to course through my body. We were going to get to see our dad again!

There was another feeling that surfaced at the same time; shame. Dad's death had been preventable, and it haunted me, even though it was not my fault. Just knowing that it could have turned out differently made me hesitant in wanting to see him.

I could just hear Mother happily prancing around the room, as I struggled with my emotions. She was more excited to see Dad than any of her children. That made me realize something: Goten had never met him. I guess it was a good thing that he was coming to visit after all. It is only right for a child to meet their dad.

"Wait… the dead don't age, do they?" Mother asked dreamily after telling Goten pretty much what had been on my mind. "And I've gotten so old! Oh no! Why didn't I go to more spas? How many years has it been… seven?" She then laughed.

"Um… Kaa-san… Could I… enter the tournament… too?" Gohan asked cautiously while keeping a bowl close to his face. "The winner gets ten million zeni… second gets five million…"

"TEN MILLION ZENI?" Mother yelled. I thought that she was going to faint. "GOHAN, YOU **GOTTA** ENTER THIS THING! THAT'S FIFTEEN MILLION ZENI BETWEEN YOU AND YOUR TOU-SAN!"

"B-but we don't have any guarantee that…"

"**Oh, pfft!** One of you's gonna win fer sure!"

"But I'll have to take time off school to train…"

"**YOU BETTER!** You can catch up later!" I stared at my mother. That was the last thing that I thought that she was going to say. I mean, she was so adamant about having Gohan and me study for the longest time. It was just out of character. I then watched as she looked skywards. "It's a gift from heaven! My money from Tou-san is runnin' out, and I didn't know what to do!"

I then noticed that Gohan looked incredibly relieved. He must have been thinking that the conversation went much better than he thought that it would… or he was just relieved that Mother would allow him to fight… or both.

I then noticed that Mother was staring at me. "Well?" she asked.

"Well what?" I replied, trying as hard as possible to make her not think that I was talking back, seeing as I honestly was not.

"Aren't you gonna ask me if you can fight in this thing too?"

"I wasn't thinking about entering…"

Her reaction was not expected. She immediately slammed her hands on the table and shoved her face into mine. "Now you listen here!" she hissed at me. "A lot is ridin' on one of you winnin' this tournament, and you're gonna enter! You hear me!"

"It's not like I have anything better to do anyways…" I said under my breath as she moved away from me. And, that was how I got _enticed_ into entering the Tenka'ichi Budokai.

Both Gohan and I were going to start training for it in the morning.

…

What's this! Goku's going to come for a visit! How are his friends and family going to react to seeing him for the first time in seven years? And what about the Tenka'ichi Budokai? How will the world react to once again seeing the Z-fighters? Find out on the next episode of Dragonball Z!


	27. The Month Prior

Early the next morning, my brothers and I woke up rather early so that we could start on our training. Gohan let Goten help him, while I went off on my own. I had a preference for being alone while I was training. Well, to be more precise, I preferred to be alone while I did all of my drills. I always have to warm up before I start, and Gohan cannot keep up with them. Like I had said before, he had really slacked off in his training. I could have asked Goten, but he was not all that familiar with some of the forms to be that good of a partner.

Some time later, I sensed Goten's chi skyrocket. It immediately caused me to smile. The little brat had shown me some time ago that he had become a Super Saiyan; I guess he was showing his ability to Gohan for the first time. I could only imagine what his thoughts could be as he saw just how strong our little brother actually was.

Shortly there afterwards, I noticed that there was a jet flying in the directions of our house. It made me curious, especially because it was a single-passenger private type. After watching it for a short time, I just shrugged it off and went back to training.

Well, that did not manage to stave off the curiosity, and I gave up training not even ten minutes later so that I could go look. As I flew around to look, I noticed that Gohan's chi had reverted to normal, which was weird as I knew he had been in his Super Saiyan form shortly beforehand (probably so the slacker did not make himself look bad in front of our brother). So, I decided to check in on him first, to see if there was some connection.

It turned out to be the right decision. I located Gohan and Goten in a field that was decently close to home. I quickly realized that they were not alone; Videl was with them. She must have been the one in the jet.

I landed a few meters behind her and watched. Apparently, Gohan was trying to explain that chi was. "**What**? You've got to be… Oh, maybe you have a different word for it. You know, it's the energy… the latent power… in your body," he told her in hopes of getting a response.

"What…?" she asked, obviously confused. "What are you talking about, 'latent power'?"

"Like this," Goten told her before he shot a low-grade chi blast at a nearby rock.

"Yeah," Gohan said approvingly. "That kind of energy."

"…Oh… right…" Videl's voice was filled with shock. I had to try to suppress my laughter.

"So what do **you** call it?" Gohan asked her. He seemed to be in a good mood now that he felt that everyone was on the same page.

"Um… a trick?"

"It's not a trick! It's real power!"

"Then it's magic! I don't know! I've never heard of it!" Videl yelled.

Gohan's expression was priceless. "Wait a minute… you actually never…? This could be a problem…"

"Do you need it to fly?"

"Don't worry! Everyone has chi! It's just hard to control it."

"Really?"

Gohan ignored her for a moment as he turned to Goten. "You'll have to wait a bit. First I have to teach Videl-san how to access her chi."

I could no longer hold it in. I just burst out laughing, which seemed to alarm Videl. I guess that she had not realized that I was there. "Sorry," I told Gohan as he gave me a cautious look. "You'd be laughing too if you had heard that conversation from my angle. Anyways, good luck training her."

"What's that supposed to mean!" Videl snapped at me.

Gohan motioned for her to stay out of it. "Goshi, why are you here?"

I shrugged. "I noticed the jet earlier… and I was a bit curious."

"Anything else?"

"Jeez… I never thought that you'd be so…. overprotective…"

Gohan immediately became flustered. "W-what are you talking about!"

A smile crept across my face. It has always been fun to tease him. "It's just that if you're going to flirt, you might want to wait until Goten's not around you."

My brother's face had become almost completely red. "G-GOSHI!" I just smiled at him as he tried to locate his words. "D-do you really have a reason to be here!"

"Actually, I do." I said with a mischievous grin before I turned to Goten, "So, would you like me to teach you how to fly?"

His eyes lit up immediately. "Do you mean it!" I nodded. "WOW! Nee-chan's gonna teach me! Nee-chan's gonna teach me!" He ran around in an excited circle as he chanted.

Gohan's expression changed. "Are you serious? You usually don't let people train with you."

I shrugged again. "Well, you're _busy_… so I feel like I should be the good nee-chan and help out." I then looked at Videl, who was eyeing me strangely, and chuckled. "Well, then I guess that we should leave you two alone." I motioned to Goten. "Come on, we're gonna go some place else."

Goten happily ran in front of me. I then looked back at Gohan. "You two better be training by the time we come back to show you." I then walked off while laughing.

"**GOSHI!**"

…

I took Goten to a nearby field, as it was a little dangerous to have him learn to fly in the more mountainous terrain and the forest that were nearby. Knowing him, he would probably get himself a little too high when he first got off the ground and would fall, which is why I choose a grassy field. I can tell you from experience; it is much more… comfortable… to fall on grass than say rock or concrete.

Goten was rather hyper by the time that we got to the location I had in mind. It was rather difficult to get him to concentrate for some time because of that. I eventually got him to focus by telling him that Videl was going to learn to fly before him if he did not get himself moving. He did not want to be outdone by a girl (somehow, I never really counted as a girl to him).

I was rather surprised as I began instructing my little brother. He was rather well trained in the use of chi, so he was able to levitate himself a short distance not long after we started. And, like I predicted, he ended up falling, but after that little set back, he was well on his way to mastering the art.

Until about lunch time, I instructed him in maneuvering and speed. He was quickly mastering this, and could probably finish it with his own finishing touches, much like the rest of us who learned this art have. I told him that we were just about done with flying, as we flew to the house (he wanted to show Mother), which sadden him, but that did not last long as I promised him that I would give him some pointers on other techniques after lunch.

Goten and I arrived at the house before Gohan and Videl, so we had to assist in setting up our table outside. After they appeared, we all sat down for lunch, and I put my communicator on the table, which I had been carrying for years because of habit and hope that was nearly gone.

"This is better'n what our chef makes!" Videl said in a surprised voice after trying Mother's cooking.

"Chef?" Mother asked, somehow ignoring the compliment. "Does your family run a restaurant?"

"Uh-uh. We just hire him for our meals."

"You hire a chef? How rich are you? Are we talkin' like a twenty-room mansion or what?" Of course, Mother had to ask about money.

"Uh… I never counted…" Videl seemed unbothered by the question. "Maybe fifty rooms…?"

"**FIFTY?** You're **filthy** rich!" Mother then turned to Gohan, "So when do you guys get **married?**"

Gohan did a spit take as I tried as hard as I could not to laugh. "Not you too," he complained when he recovered. I snickered.

"So… uh… Goshi-chan…." Videl began in an attempt to change the conversation.

"Please, just use 'kun'…" I interrupted after wincing at 'chan.' I still did not like people using that suffix when it came to me.

"Right… so what's with the machine…?"

I stared at her blankly for a moment. "You mean this…?" I asked as my finger tips brushed the communicator. She nodded. "It… it's something like a cell phone…"

"What do you mean…?"

"It was made so that I could stay in touch with a friend…" I said hesitantly as I looked at the small machine. I was about to touch on the taboo topic. "… But…. it's been some time since I've heard from him… I hope he's okay…"

"You can fly, right? So why don't you just go to his house?"

I looked away as I answered. "If it was that easy, I would have done it."

Videl looked like she was going to ask another question, but Gohan motioned for her to let it drop. He would probably explain to her later why I was being so elusive with my answers. I just bit my lip and looked down for a moment. It still hurt to talk about him, even though it had been years since he last called.

I then looked at the machine again and noticed that there was a message on it. I opened it to find the words, "Connection Re-established" across the screen in that strange computer writing. It was more than a little odd, since it had never done that in the past, but I thought nothing else of it. Machine oddities tend to be common.

The rest of lunch was rather uninteresting.

…

Well, the rest of the day went smoothly. I kept my promise to Goten, and, surprisingly, Videl learned how to fly later that day.

A pattern formed over the next few days. Videl came over to work on flying with Gohan, and I worked with Goten. After Videl went home, Goten then trained with Gohan, allowing me to do my own thing. It was tolerable.

After Videl thought she was done learning (it only took her ten days), she stopped coming over, and Goten's training mainly feel into Gohan's hands. It was unintended, but he seemed to take the responsibility away from me without really consulting me. Training Goten was actually a lot more fun than I usually let on.

That gave me some free time, so I used it to make a new gi for myself. I had needed to do so for some time, so I guessed that it was as good of time as any. I was a little surprised at myself since the style of the top and the colors used were much different from what had been used for the one I had worn while training under my Sensei.

By the time I had finished with it, we were only days away from the tournament. I had difficultly trying to hide how impatient I was. I wanted to see Dad; I wanted to fight someone and not have to hold back; and I wanted to be around people who understood me.

When that day finally arrived, my family (including my Grandpa) headed over to Bulma's as she was going to take all of us to the tournament. Everyone was rather surprised as they saw me in my new gi. It supposedly made me look more feminine. Not only that, since this was the first time that I wore a gi that had short sleeves, nearly everyone teased me because of my 'scrawny girl arms.' I also got teased about my hair, since many of them had not seen me since before I cut it.

After quite a bit of talking, Bulma herded us into the large plane that we were going to be using, and we took off.

…

Shortly after we left the ground, the conversation shifted towards Dad. Everyone was excited to see him (save for Vegeta and Trunks). Gohan even joked to Kuririn, who had grown his hair out, that Dad would probably not recognize him. I secretly agreed.

"By the way, Vegeta-san…" Gohan said in a good-natured voice, "and Goshi, Goten, and Trunk-kun… Could we go without being Super Saiyans for the tournament?"

I eyed my brother cautiously as Vegeta asked, "Why should we?"

Think about it," Bulma warned him. "You were on TV during the 'Cell Game.' They might recognize you. And if you turned Super Saiyan, they'd know instantly!"

"Yeah… Then the media would start hounding us…" my brother added.

"And we'd rip their heads off." Only Vegeta would suggest that. Although I did not dislike him as much as I had when I had first gotten to know him, I was still not comfortable with being around him for long periods of time.

"Well… I don't know if that's a good idea," Gohan cautioned.

"Fine. Whatever. If nobody's a Super Saiyan, we'll be on equal terms. I'll still have the upper hand."

"I'll agree to that!" Trunks added after hearing his father agree. I could not help but be amused by him. Although he looked like a younger version of my mentor, he acted entirely differently. He was almost like a playful/mischievous version of his father. I often avoided him because of that.

"Great. Thanks." Gohan sounded relieved.

"That's way more fair," Kuririn said afterwards in the same relieved tone as my brother. "Going Super Saiyan is just like cheating!"

I rolled my eyes. "It's much less fun though… and Gohan, are you sure that this just isn't some indirect way of making sure your façade of normalcy at school doesn't get shattered?" He laughed nervously at me, which told me that my assumption was at least slightly true.

…

It was almost like a fair outside the arena for the Tenka'ichi Budokai. There were food and clothes stands everywhere, and an astoundingly large amount of people going back and forth between them. I never did like crowds, but this was making me rather uncomfortable.

"I wonder if Goku's here yet…?" Yamcha asked as we looked around.

A loud eruption of cheers then came from somewhere behind us. Apparently, Hercule arrived, which caused droves of people to swarm him. Irritation began to surface almost immediately, and I had thought that it was going to be an enjoyable day.

"Oh! Nii-chan (1), it's Piccolo-san!" Goten pointed out. Everyone then turned to see the familiar Namekian standing by himself. Gohan immediately went over to him.

"Piccolo-san!" Gohan's voice was rather ecstatic. "Have you seen Tou-san?"

"Not yet, I fear," he replied. "Are you truly competing like that, Gohan?" I had to chuckle. Even Gohan's former teacher could not stand the sight of that outfit.

I noticed that Mother had begun to look worried. "What happened to Goku-sa? Maybe he went backstage already…?"

A good-natured laugh suddenly came from behind Piccolo, followed by the words, "Hey guys!"

Everyone immediately looked over, to see Dad just standing there, looking as if he had been there the whole time. A wave of emotion washed over me. Dad was standing in front of me. He was really and truly there!

…

Goku's back! And now that he is, the tournament is sure to be interesting. Find out how, on the next exciting episode of dragonballz!

* * *

1 Nii is an informal way of saying older brother and chan is used to show closeness.


	28. Elimination

_Writer's note: I don't know how many of you actually know this, but Gohan is only 16 during this point in time. This is stated directly in the manga, which shows that Gohan is actually only 9 when the Cell Games occur. Yes, the dubbing is incorrect.__**  
**_

* * *

All of us just stared at Dad for a moment as the sight of him registered. "**Wow!** You've all changed so much!" he said as he happily looked around. "But how've you been?"

That seemed to bring everyone out of shock, and within the next moment, several of us, including myself, ran over and hugged him. It felt so nice to be able to do so. I never realized just how much I had missed him until that moment.

After everyone finally let go of him, Baba reminded Dad that he had twenty-four hours to visit. Dad thanked her, and she left.

It was then that Mother decided that it was time to introduce Goten to his dad for the first time. "Oh… you're my son!" Dad exclaimed in surprise as the introductions were made. "I **thought** you looked like me!"

"Goten-chan, honey, it's your Tou-san!" Mother told him in hopes that it would draw him out from his hiding place which was behind my legs. Goten appeared to be terrified. (1)

I rolled my eyes before I turned and knelt so that I could look at him better. "Goten, Tou-san's not going to hurt you," I whispered to him. "He wants to meet you, and here you are, acting like a coward. You don't want to make him think you're a coward, do you?"

"NO!" he replied as he shook his head. I smiled. Dad would never think that about one of his sons, but Goten did not know that.

"Come on," I told him as I picked him up and forced him to face our dad. Although Goten was still clearly frightened, he was actually able to answer the few questions Dad good-naturedly asked him. I then put him down: my job was done.

"We must register, or the door will close," Piccolo told us, since mostly everyone was preoccupied with Goten and Dad's meeting. And we did just that, although, it bothered me that Gohan had to register under his superhero name.

"…**Youth** division?" Trunks asked in an irritated shock while registering.

"What else?" the reception man told him.

Trunks just looked over his shoulder. "Hey, Goten-kun! Kids under fifteen don't compete with the grownups!"

"What?" Goten asked, clearly disappointed.

Bulma seemed surprised as well. "Oh… that's new!"

"I don't care!" Trunks told the reception man. "We want to fight with the grownups!"

That seemed to shock the man. "What? Absolutely not! Those are the rules, kid!"

"Shoot!"

…

After those who still needed to register did so, we said goodbye to the members of our group that were going to go watch, and we headed to where they were going to do the preliminaries.

"Hey, weren't you bald?" Dad asked Kuririn as we walked. Well, at least he recognized him.

"I told you before! I shaved it!" Kuririn replied.

Dad then noticed Kuririn's wife. "Juuhachigou! Is that you?"

"It took you long enough!" she replied.

"We live together…" Kuririn told Dad in a slightly smug voice. "At Kame Sennin's house (2). We have one daughter… the girl you saw back there."

"**THAT GIRL WAS-? THAT'S IMPOSSIBLE!**" Dad yelled. "I mean… how does a robot have a kid…?" I sighed immediately. Only my father would ask that out loud.

"She's not a robot. She's a **cyborg**!"

That seemed to satisfy Dad, so then he turned to me. "So Goshi, have you heard anything from Trunks?"

My expression immediately darkened, and everyone who was listening turned to me to see what my reaction was going to be. That let Dad know that he said something wrong. "I stopped receiving calls about three months after he left," I told him in as calm of a voice as I could muster. "I have no idea if he's even still alive."

"I'm sorry to hear that…" he said as he put his hand on my shoulder. "I know how close you were to him."

I shrugged his hand off. "I… just don't want to talk about him… okay?" Dad nodded; he understood. That actually surprised me. Really no one else could not understand why I did not want to talk about that man, yet Dad did. It felt weird to be understood.

It was then that a woman, who I guess was an interviewer, stopped Dad. "Hi! Where are you from?"

"Just ignore her, Tou-san," I said under my breath, but I was not heard.

"Huh? Oh. From the afterlife," Dad told her.

"Uhh…" the woman's eyes seemed to bug out for a moment. "Ha ha… F-funny… yeah. What's that weird fashion accessory over your head?" She said in reference to his halo.

"It's not fashion. You get it when you die."

The camera that they were using to record the interview suddenly broke, allowing us to get away from the woman. I looked over at Piccolo, who seemed irritated; I had this feeling that he somehow broke it.

Those of us who needed to use the dressing rooms did so, which caused the rest of us to wait for them.

…

A few minutes later, the group meet back up, and Piccolo led us to this large open courtyard (well… it had a tiled floor, but to me it is the same thing). Dad and Kuririn were openly shocked as to how many people were in it.

"**OH! YOU GUYS!**" a man in a black suit and sunglasses shouted as he noticed Dad and Kuririn. They acknowledged him. "This is a great day! I never dreamed I'd see you again! It's been so many years! I've been waiting for you!" He had actually grabbed Dad's arms in excitement, before he quietly asked, "It was **you** who beat Cell, wasn't it? Not that Hercule!" Dad just happily laughed.

I immediately determined that I liked this guy. He was one of only a few people who did not believe in the lie that is Hercule, and it was really refreshing to see someone like that. He also seemed to know what Dad was capable of doing, which was surprising in its own right.

"Without you guys the Budokai was nothing! A bunch of also-rans." The man then noticed the rest of us. "Are you all friends?"

"Pretty much," Dad replied. It was true enough.

"Superb! This'll be great!" He then looked over at Piccolo. "Just don't destroy the grounds like last time!"

"We shall see," Piccolo answered in a surprisingly good-natured voice. He apparently knew this man too.

"But… I gotta ask… what's that ring above your head?" the man asked Dad.

"Oh! I died fighting with Cell," he explained. "I got a special pass to come today!" I still bothers me how lightly Dad takes the fact that he's dead.

The man just stared at him for a moment. "Hey, sure! I'll believe anything with you guys! You say you're dead, you're dead!"

A voice then came over the loudspeaker. "Your attention please! The preliminaries are about to begin! There are one hundred and ninety-four participants in this year's adult division! Only sixteen people may actually compete. Standing champion Hercule is automatically seeded, leaving fifteen to be selected."

"Ha ha! You'll guys'll make it!" the guy told us as he walked off. "See you on stage!"

The rest of us then moved closer to the person who was being broadcasted over the speakers. "We'll be using the punch machine to ensure fairness. The fifteen highest scorers will continue to the competition."

"A punch machine?" Kuririn asked in a surprised tone. "What the heck?"

"We'll have Champion Hercule give us an example!" the announcer continued. "Hercule, come in, please!"

"**RARRR! RAA! GRR!"** Hercule shouted as he appeared. It got the crowd going, but to me, he sounded like nothing more than a trained animal. "**IS THERE ANY MAN HERE WHO CAN BEAT ME?**"

"Oh brother…" Kuririn's voice sounded exasperated as we listened to the crowd cheer for their 'hero.' "There's a **bunch** of us…"

Camera flashes filled the courtyard as people rushed to get a shot of Hercule. Moments later, it appeared that all of the cameras just exploded. "…Piccolo-san?" my brother hesitantly asked the Namekian.

"I have destroyed every camera in the arena," he replied. "Now even if your disguise falls, your school friends will never know. You may fight freely."

"Whoa… thanks, Piccolo-san!" My brother was clearly delighted, and it appeared that Piccolo would still do just about anything for my brother. Gohan then turned to our dad. "Tou-san, I'm going to go look for my friend." He then disappeared into the crowd. I guessed that he was going to go find Videl.

I then watched as Hercule made a show of concentrating before he hit the machine. "INCREDIBLE!" the announcer shouted after the machine calculated Hercule's score. "ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTY-SEVEN POINTS!" A group "OOO" ran through the crowd.

"Best of luck, you all!" Hercule shouted as he began to enter the courtyard. "I hope one of you can make me sweat! Ho ho!"

"Everyone please take a number and line up at the punch machine!" the announcer instructed.

"All the kiddies in the youth division, over here please!" what appeared to be a monk instructed.

"Good luck, **kiddies**!" Kuririn teased Goten and Trunks as we walked over to our designated locations. We then took a number and feel into line. I stood behind Dad and glanced around at times to see if I could locate where Gohan was standing.

"Tenshinhan isn't here…?" I heard Dad ask.

"Probably not," Kuririn replied. "He said he didn't think we'd ever meet again."

As we waited, we could hear the announcer shouting both the number of the person who was next to use the machine and what his or her score was. "Next, number eighty-four!" the announcer eventually called. It was Juuhachigou's number, which was a relief. We were almost done waiting in line!

As Juuhachigou went up, I could hear men commenting upon the fact that there was a woman up. It was disgusting; don't men have anything else on their minds?

"Hey, don't hit too hard, or you'll break the machine!" Kuririn warned Juuhachigou.

"I know," she irritable replied. She walked up and punched it without looking at it.

"…**Seven hundred and seventy-four… points?**" the announcer shouted in utter shock. He then nervously approached the machine. "W-we must have a malfunction! Stand by!"

"I told you to be careful!" Kuririn told Juuhachigou as the announcer and another monk played with the machine.

"Oh, stuff it," she told him. "It's hard to control."

The announcer then turned back to Juuhachigou with a fake smile on his face. "…It seems fixed. Try again." So she did. "…Two hundred and three points…" Then it was Kuririn's turn. "… Number eighty-five, one hundred and ninety-two points…?" Then Dad was up. "Number eighty-six… one hundred and eighty-six points?" My turn: "Number eighty-seven… one hundred and ninety-eight points?" Next was Piccolo: "Number eight-eight… two hundred and ten points?"

The announcer was clearly bothered, to say the least, about our scores. "This thing's obviously broken!" he told the monk who was helping him. "We need a new punch machine!"

Vegeta was going to have none of that. He was already too annoyed by the fact that he had to wait. "Step aside," we warned the announcer before he broke it with one punch.

I just shook my head. Why did we bring him again?

"Um. The rest of you will have to wait," the announcer told the rest of the crowd. "We have a new punch machine coming in."

"Vegeta, want to go see the kids in the youth division?" Dad asked him.

He thought about it for a moment. "…mmg… I suppose. Better than hanging out here." We then moved to exit the courtyard.

As we moved, people just stared at us. I guess that they were rather impressed by Vegeta's little demonstration. We then noticed that Gohan was still in line. "Huh? Your friend's a **girl**?" Dad asked him happily once he realized that Videl was standing next to him. "That **is** a girl, right…?" I had forgotten that Dad still occasionally had difficulty telling different genders apart. (3)

Kuririn chuckled. "Good going! She's pretty cute!" I could have sworn that my brother blushed, even though it was difficult to see his face due to the big sunglasses he was wearing.

"We're going to go watch the kids. Join us later," Dad instructed my brother.

"Okay."

"Oh, and Gohan," I said as we began to move again. "You better not take any detours when you're done."

"I… uh… GOSHI!" he shouted at my retreating back. I just laughed at him.

…

After we reached the main arena, we placed ourselves at location that was on the highest walkway of the stands and almost in the center of its semi-circle. It was not the best view of the arena, but since the boys were probably going to be flying, it was just about perfect.

The man in the black suit that we saw earlier walked onto the arena stage and announced that the youth division was about to begin. "The youth winner will take home ten million zeni, the runner-up five million!" he said. Mother must have been excited by that. "And the winner will also get an extra special treat-the chance to fight with a celebrity! **Specifically this man, the champion… the one and only… Hercule!**"

The crowd went wild as that idiot appeared from the building behind the arena. After shouting, he went to take a running leap at the stage. He missed his landing and somehow fell on his head. He rolled around for a bit before he realized that he was being watched. He immediately stood up and shouted, "**I WAS JOKING!**" He then gave that annoying laugh of his, which caused the audience to chant his name.

"So Hercule, how are you feeling today?" the announcer asked the big idiot.

"Unfortunately for the people who'll fight me… I'm healthier than ever!"

"You're set to go up against the winning kiddie, too."

"Uh-oh! I hope he goes easy on me!" Even Hercule's best attempt at comedy was not all that good.

"Thank you Hercule!" the announcer said as Hercule began to leave. "He'll go back to wait in the wings… while we get the youth division started!"

"…The Budokai is like a party now…" Kuririn remarked as he looked at the audience.

"The stage is bigger that before, too," Dad added.

"…Indeed…" Piccolo just seemed irritated by the crowd. "…But the soul is smaller."

"As you know," the announcer continued, "there are no preliminaries for the youths! We have thirty-five great kids here with us today! The rules are the same as the adults: they lose if they give up, step out of bounds, go down for ten counts, or get knocked out cold! Here we go! First match is Bart, age twelve, verses Pepperone, age fourteen."

Nothing all that exciting happened until match nine occurred, since Trunks was in it. He was up against a fifteen-year-old, which was of no concern. After the match began, Trunks knocked the kid's feet out from under him, kicked him up into the air, and let him fall on his head. Trunks had begun to walk away even before his opponent had landed. I thought it was funny, but the crowd thought it was amazing.

"Oh man…" Kuririn sighed as he rested his head on the safety bar. "This'll be so boring until Trunks and Goten go against each other…" Although I agreed with him, it did not mean that I was not going to have a good laugh at the boys going against regular opponents.

…

Now that the kids have begun their tournament, it seems that the battle to watch for will be between Goten and Trunks. How will the battle between the kids of two of the earth's greatest warriors turn out? Find out next time, on the next exciting episode of dragonball z!

* * *

1 Yeah, Goten doesn't immediately take to his dad as it shows in the anime. He looks terrified and hides behind both ChiChi and Gohan for a bit.

2 Kame Sennin means "Turtle Hermit", so he means Roshi.

3 I'm unsure as to how many of you remember this, but when Goku was younger, he did have a rather hard time trying to differentiate between the two genders.


	29. Trunks vs Goten

It was boring to watch the so-called battles of the youth division. Many of these kids could not fight and several burst into tears. How was that fighting?

I was exceedingly happy when I heard the announcer yell, "Moving right along-it's match sixteen! Ikose, age fourteen versus Son Goten, age seven!" I watched as my baby brother neared the center of the stage; he actually looked embarrassed. I was very happy to see that he at least kept his manners and bowed to his opponent.

"BEGIN!" the announcer yelled.

The boy my brother was against immediately tried to nail him with a right hook. Goten easily blocked it. The boy then tried a roundhouse kick, but that was blocked too. The boy then desperately tried to hit my brother by using as many attacks as he could. None of them hit Goten, who seemingly grew tired of it and punched the kid in the face, knocking him out cold. Goten bowed to his opponent before walking off the stage.

Dad seemed to be proud of his son and happily watched his other matches. I guess he should be proud; Goten had taken after to him in both looks and fighting abilities. The only thing that was different between the two was that Goten was much more mischievous than Dad had seemingly ever been.

I immediately retracted that thought. I really did not know Dad enough to make that distinction. Maybe _he_ had been right when he said that I should have stayed home when _he_ asked Dad if _he_ could train me. No, I could not think like that! It was my choice not to come home! But if I had chosen differently, maybe I could have gotten to know the stranger I call my father better.

As I contemplated, I noted that something was flying towards my head. I caught it, simply out of reflex and looked at it. It was a rather large rock that appeared to have once been part of a concrete slab. "So it can catch!" I heard a snobby voice state in a surprised tone. I looked over to see that the blonde girl from school and her group of friends were staring at me.

The one boy approached me. "You haven't been at school recently, Son-kun," his voice's tone told me that he was just stating a fact. "Are you that ashamed of coming back that you had to surround yourself with buff men to feel safe? Or is your being with them nothing more than a coincidence."

I carefully watched his approach. "I wasn't aware that you knew the word 'coincidence.' I'm impressed." I watched with some satisfaction how his face immediately became livid while his friends laughed.

"Goshi… are they friends of yours?" Dad asked me, probably because he was a bit concerned by the fact that I started off the conversation by insulting someone.

"They're from school… but they're not friends," I replied without looking at him.

"So is that your boyfriend, Son-kun?" the blonde girl asked. "I'm impressed that you could find someone so… good looking..."(1)

I pointed to my father, "Do you mean him?" She nodded. My face immediately twisted in revulsion. "He's my Tou-san…!"

"He's your what…!" her eyes immediately began to bug out. "There's no way! He's way too young!" I shrugged. If she did not want to believe me, that was her problem.

"Oh, I see," the guy that I had insulted said with an almost diabolical look. "You're just saying these things to humiliate us. Well, we'll make it so you never think about doing that again. Besides, we owe you for the first time," He then looked back at his group. "Back me up Touji!"

I raised an eyebrow at them. "You're not honestly going to attack me, are you? You do realize that I'm here as a competitor, don't you?"

The other boy, who I guess was Touji, snorted. "That's a lie. What makes you think you'd last even two minutes out there?"

A smile appeared on my face. "Question: do you know who the last champion, the one before Hercule, was?"

"Yeah, some guy named Son Goku…" the first boy replied. "What about him?"

"What if I said that I'm related?"

The boys just laughed. "And what of it? That guy couldn't hold a candle to Hercule-sama!"

There was a great deal of chuckling from behind me. Apparently, the gang thought that statement was amusing and it really caught the attention of the blonde girl's group. "Boy, Goku," Kuririn said with a laugh, "you're reputation has really faded. I guess that you and Piccolo shouldn't have destroyed the ring back then." Dad just chuckled.

The reaction from the blonde girl's group was priceless. Bulging eyes and choking noises were rampant. "H-he's a former champion…!" Touji eventually stammered. Apparently, they then somehow managed to understand that if I was hanging out with a former champion, then there had to be some validation to what I had said, and that they had just managed to insult him. Lame excuses then followed the stammering as they practically ran from us.

"Thanks, Kuririn," I told him once the fools were out of sight. "I'm glad you played along."

"No problem," he told me good-naturedly. "But why did they have it out for you?"

I looked away for a moment before I answered with a slightly embarrassed tone. "Well… on my first day of school… they were irritating me, and I scared them pretty badly by accidently breaking a light… Gohan wasn't too happy…"

More laughter followed after that statement.

….

"We've reached the youth division final match!" the announcer shouted a little later, much to my relief. These 'youth division' matches were really starting to get to me. "Will Trunks or Son Goten stand alone at the end? Not only have they both easily overpowered their opponents-but it turns out that they're friends!"

"Finally, something worth watching!" Kuririn stated in relief. Dad and I agreed.

"Phew! The preliminaries are over!" Gohan stated as he and Videl finally joined us.

"That new punch machine musta taken a while," Kuririn mentioned, but the way he stated it made me think that he might have been indirectly teasing my brother again.

"Good thing you made it in time for this match!" Dad told him. I could just tell that Dad was overly excited.

"Let the final match for the Tenka'ichi Budokai Youth Division begin!" the announcer shouted as Trunks and Goten bowed to each other. The two then took their fighting stances.

They launched themselves at each other and the fight began. The two traded blow for blow before they broke apart and took the battle to the sky. The two finally managed to land a blow on each other, which caused them to take turns using the shadow or after-image technique. When that failed to produce any advantage, they went back to trading attacks.

Then they managed to both land a hit, which caused them to land at different sides of the arena. They were smiling at each other, just waiting to see what the next move would be. The audience, on the other hand, was in complete shock.

"Trunks and Goten are both pretty good!" Dad noted. He really seemed to be enjoying himself.

"Aren't they?" Gohan added, not even noticing that Videl was reacting the same as the other audience members.

I agreed with my Dad and brother. Both of the boys were excellent fighters already, and it was clear that that they were much stronger than any of us were at their ages. That made it difficult to tell who would actually win the fight since they were almost equal in strength, but if I had to guess, I would say that Trunks would probably be the victor.

The main reason that I believed that was that Trunks was trained by his father, who is known for not only his strength and arrogance but his strategic abilities as well. Most likely, Vegeta drilled that knowledge into his son's head in the gravity room Dr. Briefs had created. Goten did not really have that kind of training. Neither Gohan nor I are that great at strategic fighting, let alone teaching it, so it made sense that he would be lacking there. Also, Goten still completely viewed fighting as a game, which would probably take away from his performance as well.

A sudden roar from the crowd brought me out of my contemplation. People were yelling for the match to continue, that everything was a trick, it was amazing, people were routing for their favorite out of the two. It was nuts.

All of us then noted that Trunks was concentrating his chi. He was about to fire a blast.

"Is he gonna fire a chi blast from **there**…?" Gohan was definitely worried.

"That idiot! He'll hit the crowd!" Kuririn's tone matched my brother's.

"It'll be okay," Dad told them, which caused them to stare at him. "They're too good not to have a plan."

Trunks then released the blast. Goten easily dodged it, but that put the blast in the line of the crowd. But right before it hit, Trunks lifted his arms and directed it into the air, which prevented disaster. The crowd puzzled over what happened.

Goten then decided that it was his turn to fire a blast, and from the looks of it, he fired off a Kamehameha wave. It was not very well directed or controlled, which caused Trunks to dodge and it to hit the top of building located behind the arena.

I glared at Goten, and I think that he was able to feel it, since I noticed that seemed to look back at us for a moment. He knew better! That was one of the things that I had been helping him with, and he just ignored everything I taught him!

"Uh-oh… I guess he can't control it yet…" I heard Dad say, which just fueled my rage.

"Oh… my Kami-sama…" I then heard Videl say. She was beyond shocked.

Goten and Trunks then decided that it was time to go at it again. They rushed each other and grabbed the other's gi. Trunks then managed to throw Goten up in the air, get behind him, and put him in a lock. Goten squirmed and failed his legs to see if he could get loose.

"That's my boy!" everyone heard Vegeta say before he began to chuckled. I never thought I would ever hear him praise his son… but I did. He was so different than he was seven years prior.

Goten then did what he was not supposed to do and transformed to break out of Trunks' hold. The two then flew back down to the stage, where Goten powered down. Trunks looked irritated.

"…Goten, you dope…!" Gohan yelled as Videl's eyes bugged out of her head.

"Yikes!" Dad was more than a little surprised. "He can go Super Saiyan?"

"That was a cheap shot, Kakarrot!" Vegeta yelled at Dad. I had not realized he had gotten so into the fight.

"Hey… don't yell at **me**!" That's right! Dad did not know that we had agreed to not become Super Saiyans during the tournament, and he most likely had no idea why Vegeta was even irritated with him.

They were then distracted by the boys going back at it. For whatever reason, Trunks was now only attacking my brother while using only one of his arms, which gave Goten the advantage. After a quick exchange, Trunks fired a low-grade chi blast which caused Goten to launch himself into the air.

"**BANZAI!**" Goten yelled as he charged the ground at an incredible speed. As he was about to hit, Trunks got out of the way. Goten, surprisingly used a minor chi blast to change his direction and follow Trunks, much to his surprise.

It was then Trunks' turn to transform, which allowed him to move out of the way and blast my bother with another chi blast. It caused Goten to lose his concentration enough to prevent him from stopping before he touched the stands.

"**He's out of bounds!**" the announcer shouted, after going to look. "**The winner of the Youth Division-is Trunks!**"

"Trunks can go Super Saiyan **too**?" Dad asked, still rather surprised.

Vegeta then chuckled again as patted Dad on the back. "Don't feel too bad. My boy just comes from better stock!" I guess that for Vegeta that his son's victory over his rival's son was a victory counted as an actual victory for him too. Men!

The crowd then began chanting Hercule's name, and he made a show of coming on stage for the fight between him and Trunks. "Should we head back?" Kuririn then asked, and I was thankful for it. I could not stand another moment of listening to Hercule. "The prelims should be over." Everyone agreed.

"Hey!" Videl shouted. "I thought you were his friend! You're not gonna watch him fight **Hercule**?"

"Y-you're right! We should!" Gohan was clearly faking it. "This could be an incredible match!"

"We'll see you there," Dad told him as he and the others began to walk away.

"Gohan, stop trying to pretend that you're something you're not," I told him in a disgusted voice. "You're making a fool of yourself." I then went to catch up with the others.

…

"There'll be a thirty-minute break before the adult division," we heard the announcers yell as we walked. "The best is yet to come-beginning at one forty p.m.!"

"There's a break?" Dad asked, a little surprised. The tournament was much different than he remembered.

"Think I'll grab a snack…" Kuririn said, which caused all of us to do the same.

"Excuse me," a monk said as he blocked our way, "only people who have passed the preliminaries can enter beyond this point."

"So the results are up?" Kuririn seemed a little impressed. "C'mon, we all musta passed!"

"Eh? Hold on! I'll need your names!" And so we gave him ours. Although, Piccolo had entered under "Demon Jr." so that there would not be a panic in response to his real name. "You're right. You've all passed. Please, this way. There'll be a lottery at on thirty to determine the matchups."

We chatted a bit about the prize money as we followed Kuririn to where we could be served food. It reminded me of an old-fashioned restaurant, but that had no effect on the quality of the food! It was really good! And Dad surprised everyone by the sheer quantity of food he was stuffing into his mouth.

"Should you eat so much before a fight?" Kuririn asked him. "And anyway… aren't you dead?" I had been wondering about that myself.

"I don't care whether I eat or not in the afterlife," Dad replied as chewed on a piece of meat. "But the food here is **great!**"

Gohan entered right around then, and joined in on the feeding frenzy. For whatever reason, he sat next to me, which caused several fights over the rice and dumplings. I was there first! He was stealing my food!

Once we were done, and Dad had warned us to be good (more than once), we made our way out of the restaurant. "The lottery should be starting soon," Kuririn told us.

"You didn't eat anything," Gohan said to Videl as Dad happily claimed that he was stuffed. "Are you on a diet?"

"Gohan… most people don't eat before fighting," I told him. "It tends to cause them to get cramps or nausea."

"Really?" I just hit my hand off my forehead. Leave it to the guy who is trying to make himself look normal to not know that particular detail.

Piccolo then suddenly stopped in front of us, which caused all of us to become aware of two strangers who were standing in front of us. "Hello. You must be Son Goku-san," the shorter of the two, who was also floating, said to my father. It had been a while since I had heard someone call him that… the last one had been my mentor…

"How'd **you** know?" Dad asked him.

"Oh, I've heard about you," the stranger said with a grin that gave me chills. "I've always wanted to spar with you. I hope the lottery will pit us together for a match. Not that I'd ever imagine I could win, of course… but I want to know just how powerful you are." He out stretched his hand. "…May I shake your hand, at least?"

"Huh?" Although Dad was a bit taken back, he complied. "Good to meetcha!"

The stranger gave another creepy smile as he let go. "…You have a good soul. As I've always heard." He then went to walk away. "I'll see you later." He then left without another word.

"And who, Goku, was that?" Piccolo demanded.

"…I don't know…" Dad replied. "…But I know it won't be easy to pull off a clean sweep…"

"Huh? Really?" Kuririn asked. "He didn't look that tough… just weird."

Although I did not say anything, I agreed with Dad.

…

Who are these two mysterious strangers, and what do they have in store for our heroes? Find out next time on the next action-packed episode of dragonballz!

* * *

1 This is actually a joke agreement between my friend and me. If you haven't guessed it yet, Reishi is based on my best friend.


	30. The Lottery

"…They are not from earth," Piccolo mentioned as we watched the two strangers round a corner and disappear from sight. Dad agreed with him. "But," he continued, "I have no idea where they **are** from. Why would there be aliens here?"

"H-hey…" Videl whispered to Gohan in a slightly alarmed voice. "Whadda they mean, not from earth?" I had forgotten that she was not used to the odd situations that always seem to include us… nor did she know (or realize) that there were three people within our group that were not born on earth.

"Huh?" My brother seemed a little confused for a second before he came up with an entirely _believable_ cover story. "Oh… um… he's a little crazy."

"…Right… He looks sick, too… He's really green…"

I immediately covered my mouth. If I did not do something, I was going to start laughing uncontrollably. Gohan's cover story was one thing, but the fact that Videl not only believed him and that she could not comprehend that Piccolo's skin was naturally green, was just too much.

"Let's just go!" Kuririn told us somewhat impatiently as nothing else was being said about the two strangers. "The lottery's startin'!" We all agreed and began to head towards the location of the lottery. Kuririn continued to talk while we moved. "Sixteen competitors in all… what d'you think the others are like? Can't be anything too scary, I know that."

"There they are," the announcer with the sunglasses said as we entered the courtyard. As we moved closer to the lottery box, the announcer began to explain what was going to happen. "Ok, now that everyone's here… Let's start the lottery! Please step up and draw a number when I call your name!"

"Please Kami-sama, don't pit me against these guys in the first round…" Kuririn prayed aloud.

Piccolo gave him a strange look. "Kami-sama is Dende, you know." That caused me to chuckle.

I then looked over at my dad. He looked slightly uneasy as he looked around at the other competitors. "…But what's with those **faces**?" he asked no one in particular as his gaze fell upon two men whose expressions seemed pained. "Must be suffering from stress or something." He then looked at the only masked competitor (if you did not count Gohan) with a beyond surprised expression. "Hm? Is he competing? …Sure has a weird shape…"

"Pay attention as I call your names," the announcer stated as he looked down at a clipboard. "Let's see… Killa!" A tall and muscular dark-skinned man approached the announcer and drew a lot. He was placed in slot fourteen. The announcer then called someone named Kibito. The person who approached was the tall companion of the stranger who shook Dad's hand earlier. Well, at least we now knew his name. He was placed in slot seven.

Kuririn's name was then called. Boy was he surprised when he found out that he was in slot one, which meant that he was going to be in the first match. It was then my brother's turn. He was placed in slot eight, which meant that he would be fighting against Kibito.

"Don't let your guard down with him," Dad warned his son as they looked at the stranger. Gohan hesitantly agreed with him.

"…Juuhachigou…?" the announcer called with some uncertainty. "…That's your name?" he asked as she approached him.

"Got a problem?" she asked before she drew a number. She drew the ninth slot.

Next up was Shin, who I was surprised to see was that stranger from earlier. I noticed that Dad was watching him with interest as he drew the third slot. Unfortunately, he did nothing that gave us any insight into his real identity.

"Next… Spopovich," the announcer called. When no one initially moved forward, the announcer called him again. The odd-bodied masked fighter then ran forward and began to draw a lot. "Aren't you… Mighty Mask?" the announcer asked him hesitantly.

"**I'm** Spopovich!" the larger of the two seriously stressed men yelled as he approached the lottery. The masked fighter moved away and began to mutter angrily as Spopovich was placed into the sixth slot.

The announcer then called Dad, who was placed in slot eleven. "Next is… Son… Goshi…?" the announcer stated which caused me to step forward. "Forgive me, but are you Goku's child?" he asked as I pulled a number.

"Yeah, and Son Goten, from the youth division, is my youngest brother," I told him with a slight grin, since his slightly startled look told me that he was going to ask that next. I then revealed that I would be in slot sixteen, which put me in the last match. That was slightly disappointing.

It was then Videl's turn. "Where's Tou-san? I don't see him," she asked him. He then explained that Hercule was taking a break. Satisfied, Videl drew her number and was placed in slot five.

"'Tou-san'…?" Dad repeated in disbelief. "She's Hercule's daughter?"

"Yep," Gohan said in a good-natured voice.

Kuririn began to chuckle. "She doesn't look like him at all… pretty cute, in fact." He then looked back at my brother. "Bet he'd let you marry her if you scare 'im a little!"

"Wh-what?" Gohan stammered. His face was once again red. "Wh-why would I want to marry her?"

The announcer distracted us by calling the next contestant's name, which happened to be Punta. He was placed in slot two, which interested us, since he would be fighting Kuririn in the first match. He was almost as large as my grandfather, so he looked rather impressive.

"Oh, yeah!" Kuririn announced happily as he got a look at him. "You're my first opponent!"

"Are you Kuririn?" Punta asked as he approached him. It was slightly amusing actually since Punta towered over Kuririn, who was completely unbothered. After Kuririn affirmed who he was, Punta bent down to get a closer look at him. "I don't take pity on a guy just 'cause he's a shrimp! I'm sendin' you out on a stretcher!"

"Oh, brother…" Kuririn sighed. "Those lines **scream** 'one-shot character'. I can already see how **this** is going to end!" He then sighed again.

Punta immediately stood back up. "Say what?" Surprisingly, he did not let his anger get the better of him. "That does it. You better make out your will," he said before he walked away.

"Vegeta… you're number twelve," the announcer called out, which caused _all_ of us to look over at him (I had not even heard the announcer call his name). Dad and Vegeta were going to go at each other during the first round! My brother and I stared at each other. It was clear that both of us thought that this was like having the last round first! The audience was going to be sorely disappointed when the most exciting match will be so early in the tournament.

The masked warrior, Mighty Mask, was then called, repeatedly, before he drew lot thirteen. Piccolo was then called, and he was placed in slot four. His opponent was going to be Shin. The announcer then drew for the absent Hercule, who was placed in slot ten and would be up against Juuhachigou.

"Hey, you're up against Hercule," Kuririn told her happily. Although, I was unable to tell if that happiness was because she had an easy opponent or that Hercule was going to lose against her, in front of the entire crowd. I know that would make me happy.

"I'm so sorry!" Videl told her seriously, which nearly caused me to start laughing again. "Too bad you couldn't win one round before you had to face Tou-san!"

"Finally, we have Yamu," the announcer said somewhat loudly, "Who, obviously, draws the last spot-fifteen." He then motioned towards the large board where they had written all of our names and match-ups. "AND HERE ARE THE RESULTS." Once he thought that we had enough of a look at the board he began to walk away. "Let's get started right away! I'll walk you to the waiting room. You're all aware of the rules, I hope? You lose if you give up, get knocked down for a ten-count, fall out of the ring, or kill your opponent! Since we have so many matches, there'll be a thirty minute time limit. If the fight isn't settled in thirty minutes, the judges will determine the winner."

"I highly doubt that thirty minutes will be enough for some of these fights," I told my brother, "especially the one between Tou-san and Vegeta."

He chuckled. "Do you think they'll even be able to see them? They'll have a difficult time deciding the winner… unless Vegeta-san threatens them." Both of us then laughed as we ignored the fact that Vegeta probably heard us.

…

"Ladies and gentlemen!" the announcer shouted to the audience a little while later. "Thank you for waiting! It is time to choose-the strongest under the heavens!" He then motioned to the board that had all our names on it as it was being placed near the ring. "Here are the sixteen competitors who have survived the preliminaries! I'll read it out loud for those who are too far away to see!" He then went through the list of the matches. I bet our friends in the audience were surprised when they found out that Dad and Vegeta would be against each other so early.

"…And there you go!" the announcer shouted once he was done. "Who among them will win the prize? Time's a-wasting! Let's get right to the first match! **Kuririn vs. Punta!**"

We watched as Punta tried to frighten Kuririn as the two walked out of the waiting area and towards the stage. The announcer introduced them as they walked. "Kuririn returns-hoping to experience the same glory he knew in the Budokai as a little boy! Punta is known for his brutality-and he's hungry to erase the frustration of last tournament's out-of-bounds loss!"

"Punta doesn't look like he'll go easy on his opponent-even with that huge size difference!" the announcer said in a slightly amused voice as the two fighters waited for the signal to start. Punta was repeatedly crossing his arms in anticipation. "AND… **BEGIN!**" the announcer shouted.

Suddenly, Punta started doing back-hand springs across the arena, presumably to show off his mobility. I was somewhat surprised as I watched him. Usually people that large are not that fast.

Anyways, Kuririn was not all that impressed. Since it is rather difficult to hear what was being said on the tournament stage, I assumed that Punta allowed Kuririn to hit him as he did not try to defend himself when he went on the offensive. Kuririn delivered a very nice blow to Punta's stomach, slapped his face repeatedly, and then kicked him out of the ring. It was done so easily that it was almost beautiful.

"OUT OF BOUNDS!" the announcer yelled after seemingly recovering from shock. "KURIRIN WINS!" An "Oooo!" ran through the audience ran through the audience. Kuririn's win was rather unexpected, at least to the audience. There was definitely a sense of wonder that ran through the audience in the moments that followed.

"Now… on to match two!" the announcer continued after Kuririn walked into the waiting area. "SHIN VERSUS DEMON JR.!"

"Well… this **is** fun!" Shin stated as he passed us to walk towards the arena. Piccolo followed him. There was a rather curious expression on his face. It was almost as if he was nervous about facing his opponent.

"Enter contestants!" the announcer called. "This is Shin's first trip to the tournament. Demon Jr., on the other hand, fought an astounding match in the finals years ago-I remember it well!" The announcer then whispered something to Piccolo.

"Is this Shin really that interesting?" Kuririn asked as he noticed how closely Dad was watching him.

"Yeah, kinda…" Dad replied in an uncertain manner.

"LET THE SECOND MATCH BEGIN!" the announcer yelled. All of us watched from the waiting area to see what Shin would do. Surprisingly, neither Shin nor Piccolo went on the offensive. It appeared that Piccolo was trying to determine something before he made a move, which was not surprising since Piccolo was more of a tactical fighter. Yet, after Shin said something to him, Piccolo said that he forfeit the match and walked off of the arena stage.

"D-Demon Jr. has forfeited!" the announcer told the crowd in a slightly confused voice. Apparently, this was somewhat unusual in the realm of this tournament. "Shin is the winner!"

"Was it that bad, Piccolo?" Dad's expression became concerned when Piccolo walked passed us without saying anything.

"Yes… He is… a different order of being," Piccolo replied. There was definitely a hesitance within his voice, and that was unnerving.

"D-don't say that! I gotta face him next!" Kuririn's pride that had come from winning that first match so easily disappeared in an instant.

Piccolo said nothing else to us and moved to a different location in the waiting area. His actions were unsettling, to say the least, but the announcer's voice prevented me from dwelling upon it for too long.

"M-moving right along!" he called out. "MATCH THREE! VIDEL VERSUS SPOPOVICH!" As soon as the announcer finished speaking, the crowd started chanting Videl's name, which was somewhat annoying.

"_Wow!_ You're really popular!" my brother told her as she passed him. "Good luck, Videl!" She thanked him before exiting the waiting area.

"Welcome Videl," the announcer shouted as she and her opponent moved towards the ring, "daughter of the famous Hercule, champion of justice, captor of criminals, and winner of the youth division at our last tournament! Spopovich lost in the first round of that same tournament, but he's spent the past seven years preparing for a rematch!" (1)

The crowd continued to chant as Videl and her seriously stressed opponent took their places on the tournament stage. When the announcer gave the cue for them to start, the two of them did little other than have a stare down.

That allowed my attention to be drawn back to Piccolo. He and Shin had begun to discuss something, which really seemed to shake him up. I wish that I could have heard them, but they were out of earshot. Anyways, once Shin walked away, Dad went over to see if Piccolo needed any assistance. Piccolo vehemently told him that it was unnecessary.

I leaned my head against the wall in hopes that it would help me understand the confusing events of the day. This tournament was supposed to be fun for us, but it appeared that there was a distinct possibility of something _large_ happening later in the day. Excitement ran through my body as I thought about it. Maybe this would be what I needed to feel needed again.

The sound of someone being hit distracted me enough to make me look back at the match. Videl had gone on the offensive and had knocked her opponent to the ground. He managed to stand and launched his own attack at her, which she impressively managed to block.

"How is she?" Dad asked as he came back over.

"Pretty good!" Kuririn replied.

"Way more talented than this guy," Gohan added. "All her blows are connecting."

Videl once again sent the guy flying before he crashed into the tiled floor. "There she goes again!" the announcer yelled. "Videl is brilliant! Even the giant Spopovich is powerless!" Surprisingly, Spopovich once again stood up. There was an unsettling expression on his face that showed that he was unconcerned about any potential damage. "But Spopovich isn't beaten! He's built like a tank!"

Spopovich started running towards her, which caused her to kick him in the face before she elbowed him, punched him in the gut several times, and sent him back to the ground with a knee to the face. Videl tried to catch her breath as my brother began call out praises, but Spopovich once again rose to his feet, wearing an expression of battle lust that I had previously only seen on Vegeta.

My brother was beyond shocked. "How's this happening?" he nearly stuttered.

"There's something weird about him…" Dad said. I recognized the tone in his voice: he was completely serious now. "She's better forfeit…!"

Spopovich then sent Videl flying with a simple backhand. I winced as she hit the ground; there was definitely a good bit of strength behind that action. Videl quickly got back on her feet, but before she could move any further, Spopovich was upon her. He once again sent her flying, this time with a kick.

The kick had enough power to knock Videl over the edge of the arena, but before she hit the ground, Videl used her new-found flying abilities to catch herself and land back on the arena stage. The announcer explained what happened to the stunned audience as Videl and her opponent once again stared at each other. It was clear that Spopovich's hit had really damaged her.

"Yeah! I taught her that!" Gohan said proudly as he watched her.

My expression twisted in disgust. "Gohan, I know she's your girlfriend and all, but don't let your pride get ahead of you."

"B-but… she's not…!" Gohan began to protest.

"…It might have been better if she **had** fallen…" Dad said, preventing us from getting into a fight.

"Huh?"

"Something's wrong about this Spopovich… He's way too unfazed for the damage he's taken. And I don't feel any chi from him at all…"

"But what could that mean?" both Gohan and I asked him.

"I have no idea…"

I bit one of my thumb nails as I watched Videl hit Spopovich with another kick. There was a definite chance that this was going to become even more ugly very quickly, and I was right, but not in the way that I expected.

"N-no!" the announcer called out as the audience began to shriek. "Spopovich's neck is broken!" Then, that man, who was supposed to be dying as his head was almost facing straight back, grabbed his head and put it back into place. "He… p-p-put it back?" the announcer stammered. "What's going on?"

After stretching his neck out to see if nothing else was wrong, Spopovich evilly grinned at the stunned Videl. He was about to go on the offensive.

…

What in the world? Who is this Spopovich and how is he able to survive a blow that would kill almost anyone else? Is the mysterious Shin somehow involved? Find out in the next heart-stopping episode of dragonballz!

* * *

1 I think that this statement has been a little mixed up in the translation. It's been suggested in both the anime and manga that the tournament now occurs yearly (originally it was every five years and then was changed to every three years). So, this statement about him training for seven years seems a little out of place.


	31. Uncalled for Attack

Spopovich grinned at the stunned Videl once he was done adjusting his head. Without warning, he punched her square in the face. That rather bothered Gohan, especially when he realized that she was bleeding quite a bit.

"Goku's right…" Kuririn stated as he watched in horror. "He's not normal… She should give up…!"

Spopovich once again charged Videl. This time, however, before he was able to touch her, she took to the sky. "That's it!" I heard my brother say after the announcer gave the play-by-play. "Escape to the sky and catch your breath!" Unfortunately, she did not get a chance to do that; Spopovich followed her into the air, much to everyone's surprise.

"He… HE FLEW!" Gohan shouted as shock affected us too.

The announcer then, once again, stated the obvious, before Spopovich came to a stop above Videl and extended his hand. He then seemed to create a pressure wave, powered by chi, which knocked her back to the ground. Videl just barely managed to catch herself. My brother was horrified.

"That was a **chi** blast…" Kuririn stated as Spopovich landed on the stage. "But without much power!"

"No… He weakened it on purpose…" Vegeta stated in a rather calm voice. Spopovich's strange abilities had drawn him into watching. "Because he'd lose if he killed her!"

"But… how…?" Gohan demanded.

Dad's face darkened. "He has powers beyond his natural abilities… but why…?"

Spopovich once again began his assault on Videl. He slapped her, which knocked her down again. When she tried to stand, he kicked her. "Th-that chump…" Gohan stuttered as he watched. "That's enough, Videl! Give it up!" His mutterings did little as another hit nearly knocked her off the edge.

Gohan shouted for her to give up, and even the announcer tried to get her to say it, but she refused and once again stood. "…! Why's she being so stubborn?" Gohan demanded. "She'll get killed! That jerk doesn't care if she's a girl…!"

"…I…" I said hesitantly as I tried to organize my thoughts. The others turned to look at me. "I… feel like I'm watching a fight between me and M-Mi…" I could not say even his nickname. "…and the androids… Pride keeps us fighting, and they play to kill… or at least maim. It's a recipe for disaster."

"B-but if that's the case… why wouldn't you stop?" Gohan was staring intently at me, which was somewhat uncomfortable.

"I already said it," I shrugged as I turned back to the fight. Spopovich had grabbed Videl by the hair and kneed her in the face. "Pride. All warriors who are sure of themselves… or of others… have it. It's always been both a blessing and a curse."

"Th… that's lunacy!"

"Th-this is sickening…!" Kuririn hissed as Videl was again thrown to the arena stage. "How could he…?" The audience screamed for the match to stop.

"That… big…" Gohan said from behind his teeth. He had seen enough, and his chi was steadily rising due to his rage.

"Calm down, Gohan!" Dad warned him. "She's not gonna die!"

"It's not use talking to him," I said stiffly. "The fool fell in love…" Yet, I should talk. Wasn't it that same emotion that underlined both the fear and anger that caused me to originally transform?

Spopovich was now stepping on Videl's head. She was yelling in agony. Watching that irritated my brother further, causing him to transform, which blew off the headpiece and cape of his disguise. "That's it… Now he's gone too far!"

"H-hey!" Kuririn stammered. "Bad idea! Calm down!"

"No!"

"ENOUGH FOOLING AROUND!" a voice suddenly shouted. We all turned to see Spopovich's friend, Yamu, my opponent, standing on the wall surrounding the arena grounds. "END IT THERE, SPOPOVICH!" He then flew and landed on the grass near the arena. He said something to his friend, who the tossed Videl off the arena stage and onto the ground.

"Out of b-bounds….!" The announcer called out. His voice shook from shock. "Spopovich wins!"

Gohan immediately relaxed and reverted to his normal state. He then dashed over to Videl, grabbed her, threatened Spopovich, and ran back to us. Right before he did, Dad left so that he could go get her a senzu bean. Kuririn told my brother what happened, and then he ran to the infirmary.

While both my dad and brother were away, I tried to understand some of what I had witnessed. Those men, Spopovich and Yamu, really did remind me of the androids. Their abilities were not natural; and we could not sense their chi. They also seemed to emit some sense of evil. The only real difference between the androids and these two men was that the men were still organic in mature, since it was clear that their bones could be broken by a semi-normal person.

"An update-Videl's injuries are not considered serious!" the announcer shouted, which took me from my thoughts. "Great news for all you Videl fans! Now, let's move to the fourth match. Kibito versus the Great…"

Gohan interrupted him. Apparently, he had asked the announcer to hold on for a few minutes so that he would have time to give Videl a senzu, but the announcer did not seemed bothered by the request and allowed for it. Dad came back, pretty much as soon as Gohan was done speaking with the announcer. After grabbing one of the senzu beans and apologizing to his opponent, he ran off again.

…

"Okay, let's get this match started!" the announcer shouted after my brother's return. "Kibito versus the Great Saiyaman!"

I began to laugh uncontrollably when some of our classmates recognized him and began to cheer. Gohan, rather hesitantly, acknowledged them. So much for his disguise.

"Let the match begin!" the announcer shouted.

It looked like my brother was getting ready for an attack, but was stopped when his opponent began to speak with him. "What are they talking about…?" Kuririn pondered as we watched.

"…That guy just told him to turn Super Saiyan." I stared at my dad. How the heck was he able to hear them!

Piccolo then shouted an acknowledgement to my brother, to let him know that it was okay to comply. "What is it?" Dad asked of him. "Do you know something?"

"Not precisely… but…"

We then immediately turned as we felt the presence of someone behind us. It was Shin. "We must make use of Gohan-san… I'm sorry," he told us. "And I need you all to stay put for a while, no matter what happens."

"What are you talking about?" Dad asked.

"Why should we listen to you? Who are you?" Vegeta's tone dripped with irritation. Not only did he hate being told what to do, he was not too keen on being ordered around by this stranger.

"This is Kaio-shin-sama… the Lord of Lords… the God to the Gods," Piccolo explained in a voice the clearly stressed the idea of being polite to him.

"Ohh!" Dad exclaimed as the others realized the importance of Piccolo's words. "The Lord of Worlds told me about you! Sounds like you're really something special!"

I just glanced at him with indifference. I knew little about the beings known as Kai, mainly from not having much contact with my father over the years. I had heard that they were beings that looked over the universe so that any potential threats could be detected and neutralized. But, as I saw it, they never did their job. I mean, they let the tyrant known as Freeza run free for years without any interference, and they did not get involved with the androids or Cell. Trusting one of them was not all that appealing.

"Is something going to happen when he goes Super Saiyan?" Kuririn asked.

"Spopovich and Yamu will no doubt attack Son Gohan-san," Shin explained. "But as I said… I want you to do nothing. Don't be afraid," he said after noticing Dad's expression. "They won't take his life. They're after his energy."

"Energy…?" Dad asked.

"And you're expecting us to stay put during this?" I demanded of him. "You're insane!"

"Watch your mouth!" Piccolo warned me. I glared at him.

"Look, I don't know all that much about those from the upper realms, but it seems really odd to me that one would get involved now, since they've never physically interfered with us before. Besides, even though I might fight with him, Gohan's still my ototo-kun, and I'm not very interested in watching him get hurt."

"I understand your feelings, but I request that you don't interfere," Shin told me. My answer was given in the form of a glare.

Gohan then transformed, and he seemed to go to the ascended level. It was somewhat hard to tell as he had slacked in his training that severely. "Feh… He was better back when he beat Cell!" Vegeta stated. "He's slacked in his training regimen… Peace isn't good for a warrior!"

Shin seemed somewhat surprised by his words. "…It's still more than we imagined… I don't know if I'll be able to stop this power…" Dad questioned his words. Seconds later he yelled: "**HERE THEY COME!**"

Spopovich and Yamu attacked Gohan from behind. Shin immediately outstretched his hands, and my brother was unable to move. Spopovich then grabbed him about the neck, and Yamu stabbed him in the side with some strange device. It was clearly hurting him.

Shin reminded us that we needed to stay put, but I had no desire to listen. As I went to rush forward to help, my father grabbed by arm. "LET GO OF ME!" I shouted at him. "YOUR SON'S IN TROUBLE!"

"But Goshi… we can't!" Dad told me, still not letting go.

"BET ME!" Out of respect for my dad, I had not yet transformed, but that respect was starting to be replaced by anger. That transformation was definitely coming in the near future.

Unfortunately, I never got that chance to transform. Seconds later, my brother's two assailants were apparently done, and took off into the sky, leaving my brother lying on the arena in a weakened state. My father let go of me at that point.

"Don't do anything! Not yet!" Shin warned us. "Don't worry- Kibito will put him back to normal!" He then turned to us. "Now, we'll follow those two. Please come with us, if you like. It would be a great help." He then took off into the sky.

"Wh-what do we do?" Kuririn asked. He was clearly dumbfounded. "…Goku…?"

"I'm going with him!" Dad stated. "We've the Lord of Lords' word that Gohan'll be fine! And I wanna know what this is about!"

As Videl rushed over to Gohan, Kuririn explained that he was going to go too, but he was going to let Juuhachigou know first. Vegeta, on the other hand, was not too happy with the entire situation. "**No you don't, Kakarrot!**" he snarled. "**We have a duel to fight!**"

"What? This is no time to be-"

"Don't try to run out on me! What do I care about the Lord-of-whatever-he-is? The only reason I came to this infantile game was to settle with you, one-on-one!"

"Okay, okay! I promise I'll fight you later, even if it's not in the Budokai!"

"Bull. I know you've only got one day back in this world."

"Then come with us-we can fight there!" Vegeta, finally, agreed. Dad then turned to me. "You're coming, right Goshi?"

I glared at him. "I refuse."

"What!"

"You heard me," I snapped. "I'm not following someone who purposely uses people to get his own way, especially when it involves hurting that person. Besides, you're probably just going to keep me on the sidelines, just like you did last time." Even though a fight to save the world was just what I needed to feel like myself again, the way this was playing out was just too aggravating. "Just watch, we were probably better off stopping those two guys before they left."

Dad just gave me a rather puzzled look, which told me that we were going to have a talk later, if there was time. Then he, Piccolo, and Vegeta left (well, Dad talked to Kibito first) and followed Shin. Kuririn, Kibito, my brother, and, surprisingly, Videl followed them shortly afterwards (the last three followed once Gohan was completely healed).

…

The tournament was in a state of chaos after they left, seeing as there were only five fighters that were still around that could compete. We were told that there was going to be a break as the higher-ups decided what to do with the few remaining fighters.

I just walked around while we waited for the decision. Immediately after I had watched everyone leave, I had begun to feel guilty, since I had pretty much abandoned them. Yet, I still felt that even if I did go, there would be nothing for me to do, since Dad and Vegeta had both clearly improved since the Cell Games and that Dad always dwelt more on his son. And, Mother still had someone at the tournament that could still win some prize money for her. It all worked out. Although, it did very little quell my desires to be in the middle of the fight.

However, I did feel like the least I could do was pay attention to their chi. They flew some distance away before coming to a stop, and shortly after landing, Kibito's chi disappeared as an unknown chi raised. That was a cause for alarm, especially after Piccolo and Kuririn's chi disappeared shortly there afterwards.

I still did not think much of it as my Dad and brother still seemed to be fine. Then, their chi disappeared as well, but unlike the others, theirs reappeared a little later. It was really strange! The same thing happened again soon afterwards. I could not tell what was happening, which really bothered me, since not knowing was causing me to become rather worried. Then, nothing happened, which was just as surprising. Their chi just remained, mostly, stationary, and it continued like that for some time. (1)

As I struggled with my ideas of what the others were doing, the tournament committee finally figured out what it wanted to do with the remaining contestants, thanks to Hercule. We were going to fight a battle royal, which meant that all five of us were going to go into the ring at once and have a free-for-all. I approved of that since I was beginning to think that it might be a good idea for me to go look in on the guys.

"Now let's meet the competitors in this quintuple melee!" the announcer shouted as the rest of us approached the stage. "Of course you know the defending champion, Hercule! One of our two female competitors, Juuhachigou! (Yes, that's her name!) Mighty Mask-last time his run ended in the first round! Killa-his **last** run ended in the second round! And finally, our other female competitor and daughter of the fighter Son Goku, Son Goshi!"

As we took our places, I tried to determine who would be the biggest problem. Most likely, that would be Juuhachigou, but that Mighty Mask was bothering me. There was something really off about him and his chi.

When the announcer told us to begin, Killa was immediately removed from the ring by a simple punch from Mighty Mask. It was slightly unexpected as he had such short arms. Juuhachigou and I exchanged a glance; both of us wanted to get him out of the way, immediately, before he caused an unexpected problem.

None of us moved, well, save for Hercule, who was just being an idiot and playing to the crowd. Mighty Mask seemed to be having difficulty trying to determine who he wanted to fight first: me or Juuhachigou. Hercule then decided to make a move, but before he could even reach the masked fighter, by rolling on the ground, he had finally gone to attack Juuhachigou.

It was clear that Juuhachigou was more skilled than Mighty Mask as she quickly took control over their fight. When Juuhachigou was able to land a kick, Mighty Mask flew into the air to catch a break. She quickly followed and resumed the fight. I saw that Mighty Mask was very distracted and decided that it was a good time to interfere. The warrior's code doesn't really apply when you're in a free-for-all, after all.

I immediately got behind Mighty Mask and threw a punch. He seemed to be aware of it and barely dodged. Juuhachigou then used the distraction to knock him to the ground, rather hard, I might add. Surprisingly, he got up, and to discourage a continuance, Juuhachigou launched a chi blast at him.

"Now that that's out of the way, why don't we get started?" Juuhachigou told me. I just smiled in response before we began throwing punches.

Although I was enjoying myself, I needed to end the fight quickly for two reasons. The first dealt with trying to get to the others rather quickly, since I was still worried (and I wanted to be involved). The second was because of how Juuhachigou looked. Although she was much different from her future counterpart, she still looked the same, and there was the possibility past hostilities would resurface.

I was unfortunately prevented from moving past the warm up as Mighty Mask had approached us again. His chi then suddenly sky-rocketed and a golden glow surrounded him. It was so obvious now; Trunks and Goten _had_ wanted to fight with the adults.

One of the two decided that a chi blast would be the best action to take after that, and launched a descent sized one at me. I easily knocked it up and out of the way. "Y-you've gotta be kidding me…" Juuhachigou stammered. "That speed… that power… Are those twits really **that** good…?"

"You'd be surprised," I answered in a slightly irritated voice. I wanted to get this done and over with.

"In that case-I better end this quick! TRUNKS! GOTEN! I'M GONNA WIN THIS!" She then threw an attack at them that looked very similar to her husband's Ki-En-Zan (2). To dodge it, the boys decided to go in separate directions, which ended up ripping their disguise. That, combined with the announcer's commentary caused me to start laughing rather severely.

The boys were immediately disqualified and flew off somewhere. Knowing them, they were probably going to somehow find their way into the mess that was occurring with the others, which was probably going to be a bad thing. I sighed. Today was not going as planned in the least.

I then noticed that Juuhachigou was in the process of landing and followed her. "I'm sorry, Juuhachigou," I told her after we landed, "but this is going to have to be a fast battle."

"If you're that worried about the others, why didn't you go with them?" she asked with a sly smile.

"Irritation combined with stubbornness."

"You can still go now and throw the match, you know."

"You're not going to be able to trick me that easily." I then smiled, "But, since I am in a rush, I'm going to take this fight to the next level, just to save some time."

Her eyes widened slightly. "I thought you weren't…!" I did not reply. Instead, I just transformed into a Super Saiyan and took a fighting stance. This was going to be fun!

…

Goshi transforms in an attempt to get to her father faster. Will it be enough to help them? And just what have they gotten themselves into? Tune in to find out!

* * *

1 Remember, Bobbidi sent the others to different planets with his abilities while they were fighting, so it would seem like they had disappeared to someone who had been sensing them.

2 Japanese name for 'Distructo Disk'


	32. False Victory

"What in the world! Contestant Son Goshi has begun… to glow!" the announcer shouted to the stunned audience after I had transformed. Although I paid little attention to them, I did happen to catch that Hercule looked positively frightened. That was enough of a gratification for me.

"And here I thought that you had agreed not to do that," Juuhachigou said with an amused expression.

I grinned. "The situation has changed, and I need to get this fight over with quickly. Besides, the fight will be more fun this way."

Juuhachigou seemed to understand and placed herself into a fighting stance as well. A moment later, we lunched at each other. Her technique was a little different than the Juuhachigou with whom I was used to fighting (probably due to Kuririn's influence), but it was close enough. I quickly took control of the fight.

After several exchanges of fist and leg, Juuhachigou took off into the sky in hopes of catching her breath. I did not give her that chance as I quickly took her back. She barely had time to give me a startled look before a solid roundhouse punch from me sent her into the arena floor.

I smiled as I watched. One of the aspects of my style that I had spent a great deal of time training during the seven years of peace was my speed, and I took great pride in that.

Juuhachigou quickly recovered and flew towards me. As she came, she began to fire low-grade chi blasts at me, which I easily deflected. She then fired a larger one. Since it was too close, there was no way that I could knock it aside, so I just braced myself for impact.

"Is that all you've got?" I asked jokingly as the smoke cleared.

"Heh, don't get ahead of yourself!" Her voice came from behind me, which I had not expected. I spun just in time to see her connect a punch to my head, which sent me flying towards the ground.

"Darn it! I should have known!" It was clear that she was probably going to try something like that, but I had let myself grow arrogant. When you cannot sense your opponent's chi, you have to pay attention, at all times, to their movements. I was rather irritated with myself as I corrected my fall and landed, rather hard, on the arena stage.

When I stood up, I had only a minute to check my surroundings. I was rather close to one edge of the stage, which meant that I was going to be careful. If I wanted to win, I had to keep myself away from the grass and the stands beyond it, which almost reminded me of fallen glass buildings due to the uniformity of the stunned crowd.

I heard a yell from above, and immediately dodged, moving away from the edge. Juuhachigou had barely landed before she changed directions and followed me. We once again began to exchange volleys of attacks.

There was something different in this exchange. Juuhachigou's attacks had more power behind them, yet, at the same time, there was a sense of amusement and arrogance behind them. It was almost felt like she was toying with me. That was infuriating! Did she not think that I was worth her time?

As we moved, I realized that she was gaining control of the fight, and that we were approaching the buildings. Once we hit those buildings, it was going to be over! I had to prevent that! I had to win! To escape!

I quickly powered up again, much to her surprise, and regained control of the battle. She barely had time to react as I punched her as hard as I could in the gut. As she doubled over in pain, I knocked her to the ground with a kick. As she bounced, I caught her by her upper arm and held her (back towards me) in the air in front of me. I began to concentrate my chi in my free hand.

"**GOSHI!**" someone from the audience shouted. I immediately let go of Juuhachigou and the chi in my hand and stumbled backwards. What had I been doing? Did I just try to seriously hurt Juuhachigou?

I watched her stand up from the stage. She had definitely been taken by surprise and there seemed to be a bit of wary concern in her expression. "What happened?" she asked as she wiped her mouth. There was slight amusement to her voice. "I honestly thought that you were going to try to kill me for a second there."

"…I might have been trying…" I winced as I replied. That answered my question. The thing I feared happened, she had reminded me of her counterpart so much that I had mistaken the two (1).

She raised an eyebrow. "You 'might have been'…?"

"Let's just say that I was reliving my past for a moment." (2)

She gave me a rather searching look. "Care to explain that further?"

I gave a slightly ironic smile. "Maybe, but definitely not until we have more time. I'm still somewhat in a rush, you know."

"And here I thought that you forgot," she retorted. "You better hurry if you want to get there while the action's still happening."

I smiled. "You're right, but I think I'm going to let you have a free shot at me before we truly begin again. Call it… compensation for my actions."

"You're sure about that?" She seemed to be skeptical of my words, even when I nodded. "Alright. If that's what you want, but you might end up regretting this." She then connected a nice right hook with my jaw, and I saw sent flying.

"Nice punch," I told her after I righted myself in the air, just beyond the edge of the stage and wiped my mouth. "Now, let's finish this."

Juuhachigou agreed, and we once again began to trade blows in the air above the stage. In one instant, Juuhachigou had left herself open. I took it and used a sudden and strong kick to knock her out of the air and onto the grass surrounding the stage. I sighed as I landed on the stage; at least that part of the mess was over.

I looked over at the still trembling Hercule. It was his turn to face me.

…

"Now it's just Son Goshi and Hercule!" the announcer shouted as I continued to stare at 'the champ'. "The winner will be the new champion!"

No matter what I did, this was going to be a spectacle, so I began to walk towards the 'Champ'. He looked terrified of me at first, but somehow managed to get enough of his resolve together to attack me. I easily sidestepped it, got behind him, and put him in a sleeper hold.

"Please don't kill me!" he told me as he squirmed.

"Not only are you not worth it, but I wouldn't actually win," I hissed. My voice then took on a slightly amused tone. "Now, do you have anything to say before I throw you out of the ring?"

"Y-you wouldn't…!"

"And why wouldn't I? I'm trying to win this thing… Well, actually I'm trying to win the money. You're just nothing more than an obstacle to me." I was actually starting to enjoy tormenting the now shaking man, but my fun had to come to an end. The chi of my father and brother disappeared again; I had to get to them. "Sorry," I then told Hercule, "I don't have any more time to waste, so think up your best excuse as to why you lost." I then let go of him, and as he stumbled forward, I (lightly) kicked him off the stage and onto the grass.

That was it. The spectacle was finally over.

"W-What an upset!" the announcer yelled as the shock from Hercule's loss finally wore off. "Son Goshi is the new champion!" He then walked over to me. "So, how does it feel to be champion!"

All I wanted to do was leave. Could he not see that! "I'm just glad this is over," I told him, truthfully. There was no need to express how I really felt. This entire tournament was a farce, and any victory in this setting (unless the others had actually fought) really meant nothing. It also was nowhere near as enjoyable as I had hoped it would be.

I then beckoned the announcer closer so that I could ask him about the money without dealing with the interview. He seemed rather surprised that I did not want any ceremony, but after explaining that my dad was off fighting someone or thing, he understood. It was then agreed that the money would be handed to my mother so that I could leave.

As I headed into the waiting area so that I would not be conspicuous as I flew away, the announcer covered for me by interviewing the fallen champ. Although I did not really pay attention to what the idiot was saying, I did catch that he was using the excuse that he let me win. The sad thing was that the audience was probably going to believe him.

Once in the waiting area, I caught that there was already a wave of reporters trying to make their way over. I quickly ran the other way and located a small corridor that I could use to hide for a moment so that I could figure out where I needed to go.

After a moment, I realized that I still could not pinpoint the location of the others. "Jeez! How hard is it to find a group of Saiyans!" I demanded of no one as the frustration was getting to me. Since trying to find them was pretty much pointless, I decided to just wing it and head towards the location where I had last sensed them.

…

"HEY! GOSHI-KUN!" someone shouted at me while I flew. I looked over and saw Videl trying to flag me down. I stopped and allowed her to approach me.

"Can everyone in your family turn blonde?" she asked after giving me a strange look. I had forgotten that I was still in the transformed state.

"Not quite," I replied with an amused tone before my voice became more serious. "What's going on? Where are they?"

Videl then explained what Kibito had told both her and Gohan. Apparently, hundreds of years ago, a wizard had created a majin (3) so that he could terrorize the universe. This majin was so powerful that even his creator was unable to handle him. Eventually, the majin was sealed away and placed on earth (of course), and the wizard was killed. Unfortunately, the wizard's son was still alive and was trying to resurrect the majin. To do so, he had to collect a certain amount of energy. So, Kibito and Shin, the Lord of Lords, had recruited my dad and brother to go help them stop it. She also mentioned that Goten and Trunks were now on their way there as well.

After I sighed dramatically and thanked her, I told her to be careful, since she was now involved in this whole mess, and sped off.

…

I could not believe that the boys were going there without an escort! Neither of them had ever been in an actual battle, and I was so worried that they would end up doing something stupid that was going to get them hurt because of that. It was sad. Their safety worried me more than the safety of the others.

While I thought about that, I noticed that I could feel the other's chi again. It seemed like they were fine and not doing anything, but that soon changed. Vegeta's chi skyrocketed! It was clear that it was not normal, since it was rising at an unnatural rate, and it was becoming evil. Now, Vegeta's chi could never be said to 'feel' good, but that sense of evil had diminished over the years. It definitely warranted some concern.

What further caused concern was the fact that everyone's chi suddenly disappeared and reappeared behind me, approximately where the Budokai was. After Dad 'powered up' and Vegeta destroyed something, their chi once again disappeared and reappeared a little away from where they had been originally. What in the world did that mean?

Then Gohan's chi somehow ended up back in its original location, but that was not the most interesting occurrence at that time. Dad and Vegeta had begun to fight! Just from the way it felt, it was clear that it was the fight was going to be as close as 'to the death' as possible. Vegeta was going to try to kill Dad, but it is somewhat hard to kill someone who is already dead.

As I pushed myself to go faster, I swore that I was going to slap both my father and Vegeta senseless when this was over. They were supposed to be fighting the bad guys, not each other! To distract myself from that thought, I began to concentrate on Trunks and Goten, who were not all that far in front of me. I had just about caught up with them when this large and malicious chi appeared out of nowhere.

I froze in place in the air when I felt it. I've encountered a lot of different things over the years, but I had only been this frightened once, and that was when Rildo had decided to catch himself a half-breed Saiyan. What made that fear even worse: Gohan was right where that evil chi was.

Without a doubt, I could tell that my brother was in trouble. After I remembered how to move, I raced towards the scene. Unfortunately, I was not nearly fast enough. As I moved, Gohan began to fight the owner of that chi. It was only a short time before he seemed to realize that he was outmatched and tried to flee. He did not make it.

Gohan's chi disappeared after a surge of chi from his opponent.

I tried to locate him after that… but I could not. Emotions began to swirl through me, but I held them back. There was no proof that he was no longer among the living, and it was definitely not the time to be distracted by what could have happened. I just hoped that my assumptions were wrong.

What made that situation worse was that Dad's chi disappeared shortly after Gohan's. That did not make much sense as there was no way that he could be killed. I was really regretting my decision to stay behind at the tournament by that point.

The boys had landed somewhere nearby, so I decided to land as well as and move on foot to where the monster was so that it would be harder for me to be seen. As I moved through the rocks that surrounded the location, I felt another person challenge that monster. He (or it) was also felled by it.

Was it possible that it could not be stopped? I was not sure. Not only that, I could not believe what this monster really was. When I finally got close enough to see, my jaw dropped due to disbelief. The monster was nothing more than a large pink blob that was acting like a spoiled little kid!

…

Is the strange figure that has appeared the majin that the Lord of Lords had warned our heroes about? What about Gohan? Did the unthinkable really happen? And where did Goku go? Find out next time on the next action-packed episode of dragonballz!

* * *

1 If I didn't make this clear, Goshi just experienced a type of flashback. Not all flashbacks are sudden. Some are more gradual, where as you're walking or doing some sort of task, your surroundings begin to take on characteristics of a memory. And this was the effect that I was trying to achieve here.

2 I've hinted at this in earlier chapters. Goshi appears to suffer from an Acute Stress Response (ASR) which can be said to be a very _mild_ form of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). It's a very common occurrence (seeing as 1 out of 10 women suffer from it), and does have a high rate of recovery.

3 Although it is not exactly precise, majin, in this context, means something along the lines of a created spirit. Often times, it references a genie type creature. He's sometimes referred to as a 'djinn', which is approximately the same thing.


	33. Sacrifice

After staring at the pink blob for a few more moments, I noted that I could sense Piccolo and Kuririn for the first time in a while. They were situated very close to my youngest brother and Trunks. I quickly hurried over to them.

"Goten! Why are you here!" I demanded of my brother as soon as I caught sight of him.

After jumping, he turned and gave me a somewhat nervous look. "Well, we wanted to see the wizard and the Boo (1) genie!"

That immediately caused irritation to surface. "This isn't a game!" I told him sharply. "Neither of you have seen something like this before, and the first thing you do is treat it like one! Are you trying to get yourselves killed!" I was so disgusted that I could not soften my rage.

Both Goten and Trunks shrunk back a little. "Goshi, this isn't really the time…" Kuririn told me nervously (hoping that he would not provoke my wrath) as he placed himself between me and the kids.

I glared at him, but let it drop. I then looked back towards the pink blob with the monstrous chi. "Is that Boo…?"

"…Indeed…" Piccolo replied.

"Y-you're kidding me…" Kuririn stammered. "So that's **his** huge chi…?"

We then watched as a little greenish guy direct, or at least attempt to direct, Boo to attack Shin, who is better known as the Lord of Lords. Once he realized what was happening, Piccolo immediately began to rise so that he could go help.

"HEY! PICCOLO, DON'T!" Kuririn warned him. "WHAT ARE YOU DOIN'? I know how you feel… but you can't go there! Not even you'd be a match for this guy!"

"Nothing slows him down-not even a spear through his gut!" my brother added in a knowing way. "He'll turn you into a cookie and eat you!"

"A cookie…?" I could not help but raise an eyebrow at that. It was such a ridiculous claim.

"But it's true! Trunks-kun and I watched him do it to that red guy!"

A sudden explosion then came from behind where Boo and the greenish guy were standing; it caught all of our attentions. As the smoke cleared, Vegeta stepped forward, making him the one to blame.

"IT'S TOU-SAN!" Trunks shouted as we watched his father walk towards the greenish guy.

We then noticed Piccolo's reaction to something that he overheard, and it was not good. "What? What'd he say?" Trunks demanded.

"…Gohan…?" was his only clue.

My eyes immediately grew wide. I then turned my head away so that my reaction could not be seen. From Piccolo's tone of voice, which was a mixture of shock and pain, it was clear that my brother had been either severely hurt or killed. I was hoping for the former, since I did not want to face the possibility of another death in the family.

Suddenly a cloud of steam was somehow released from Boo's head. It appeared to have gotten angry for whatever reason, but with that anger came a sharp rise in its chi. Vegeta raised his as well, and the fight began.

Vegeta immediately rushed it. He first attacked with a left kick and followed it with a strong right jab, which sent the creature flying. He then followed and just pounded the creature with a ferocious assault. Boo did not even attempt to retaliate.

"_Wow_! Vegeta's awesome!" Kuririn remarked as my brother laughed and Trunks cheered.

"He has broken through the Super Saiyan wall," Piccolo noted. "He is more powerful than Gohan when he fought Cell."

"Even so, it probably won't help…" I stated quietly as I noticed that something seemed to be off with Boo. Even through Vegeta's insane attack, its chi had not dropped.

Once again, Vegeta had knocked Boo back (I noted that the indents on it from Vegeta's attacks immediately disappeared), and this time, instead of pursuing it, he raised his hand for a chi attack. I knew what it was simply from my Sensei's description: the Big Bang Attack. The intense attack hit its mark and shot a huge hole through Boo's center.

"He did it!" Trunks shouted as the creature stayed down. It immediately got back up and fixed the hole. It was as if Vegeta had never attacked it! It then focused its chi and sent a huge blast out around it on all sides. It was an incredibly devastating attack, seeing as we had to move backwards to avoid being caught in it.

When the smoke cleared, Boo was hovering over a gigantic crater, and this crater was much larger than anything I had ever seen before. The rest of us had been covered by debris, and had to dig ourselves out of it before we could do anything else.

As soon as we were out, Piccolo grew concerned over the potential whereabouts of the Lord of Lords and Trunks was concerned about his father, who emerged from the dust a few moments later. It was clear that the attack had done a number on him. I was absolutely amazed when he was able to stand.

"Tou-san… can't lose to a genie… can he…?" Trunks asked Piccolo. I felt bad for him. He believed that Vegeta could do anything, and that shaped his whole world. Now, that world was about to come apart.

Boo then approached Vegeta and somehow took part of its body and removed it from itself. It then attacked Vegeta with a minor blast for a distraction, and as he dodged, it threw that piece of its body at him. Surprisingly, that piece of Boo's body wrapped around Vegeta and trapped him. The entire event was rather sickening.

Boo then began its own assault against Vegeta. None of us could watch. "H-he'll be killed…!" Kuririn shouted. "Wh-where are Goku and Gohan…? …Are they really dead?"

"No way!" Goten shouted at him. "My nii-chan **can't** die!"

"Get that idea out of your head!" I snapped at him. "You'll handle reality much better if you do!"

"But…!"

There was no way that I was going to continue to watch the fight without getting involved shortly. Vegeta was going to die, and my blood was screaming for action.

"…No, Trunks…" Piccolo warned him once he saw that he was about to get involved. "You cannot help. You will only die in vain-and add to the weight on Vegeta's soul!"

"**I DON'T CARE!**" Trunks then transformed and rushed to the scene. Goten quickly followed his lead. I then sighed and followed as well.

Trunks connected a nice kick to Boo's head, which sent it flying. That gave him and Goten enough time to get Vegeta untangled. I landed in front of them and powered up to the ascended state. As I watched for Boo's return, Piccolo attacked the short greenish guy.

After I noticed that Vegeta was once again standing, I walked over to him and the boys. "What?" Vegeta demanded of me as I glared at him. Without warning, I then punched him the jaw with as much force as I could muster, which knocked him down. It felt good.

"Nee-chan…!" Goten shouted at me as Trunks went to check on his father. I just ignored him and continued to glare at Vegeta. It was almost as if I was daring him to say or do something.

"What's wrong with you?" Trunks was enraged that I would actually take a swing at his father. "The enemy's that Boo-thing!"

"… If my Tou-san was here, I'd hit him too," I told the boy rather harshly. My attention then turned back to Vegeta, who was back on his feet by that time. "What possessed you two to pick up your rivalry in the middle of a war? Could you not of waited the few hours to prevent _that_," I pointed to the distant figure of Boo as I talked, "from appearing before you and Tou-san began fighting? Were you that set on defeating him? Or were you so sure that no other potential threat could measure up to your strengths? You sicken me!" I then allowed myself to relax and turn away from him. There was more that I wanted to shout at him, but it could wait until a later time.

A small chuckle from Vegeta caused me to look back over my shoulder at him. "I always forget that your personality was shaped more by your Sensei than Kakarrot..." he told me in what sounded like an amused tone (2). Other than look at him coldly, I did nothing else in reply. I was not going to admit that he was right in saying that my outburst was more like something his son would have done.

It was then that Piccolo managed to cut that green guy in half. The rest of us just watched as he fell to the ground. "Trunks…" Vegeta then said, somewhat suddenly without looking at him. "Take care of Kaa-san…"

"Huh?" Trunks was definitely confused. "Tou-san? What do you mean…?"

"You three… make your escape… I'll fight Boo… myself…"

"No! We'll fight, too! Or you'll be killed! We can do it together!"

"It doesn't matter… how many we have… we can't beat him…. by fighting…"

"No! That's not true! We're the best!"

"Yeah!" Goten added.

I just watched. I had this strange notion of what Vegeta was planning, and it bothered me. Not only did it seem out of place for him, I just was not sure if it would work.

"Trunks… I never held you even when you were a baby…" Vegeta stated. That unnerved me more than anything else; Vegeta was showing emotion.

"Tou-san?" Trunks seemed to be somewhat concerned by his father's actions as well.

"Let me… give you a hug now…"

"T-tou-san, stop…!" Trunks said with an embarrassed tone as he shared a moment with his father.

"Take care… Trunks." Vegeta's voice actually seemed to have happiness within it. His son then barely had enough time to look up at him before he knocked him out with a quick hit to the neck.

"Wha-?" my brother shouted as he watched his friend fall to the ground. "Wh-what… are you doing..?"

"Don't get involved," I warned him. He just ignored me as he grabbed Vegeta's arm and continued to demand an answer. Vegeta then knocked him out as well, this time with a strong punch to the stomach.

As I sighed and walked over to grab my brother, Piccolo landed behind us. "Take the two of them as far as you can…" Vegeta told us. "…Hurry…"

"You plan to die here, don't you?" Piccolo asked after he grabbed Trunks.

Vegeta did not truly answer him; instead, he asked, "Tell me one thing. Will I be able to see Kakarrot in the afterlife?"

…The time is past for mincing words, so I'll be blunt. No. You have killed too many innocents. You will lose your body, and your soul will be banished to a place quite different from Goku's. There it will be reincarnated into a new form, but only after it is cleansed of memories," Piccolo explained. I paled slightly as he talked. It was the first time that I had really heard anything in detail of the afterlife. It did not seem as pleasant as I had originally thought.

"…I see… pity…" Vegeta replied. "So go, then… now."

"…But what if it doesn't w…" I began, but Vegeta cut me off.

"I'm not going to hold back just because you want to fight it."

That caused me to glare at him again. "That's not what I meant… I don't like unnecessary deaths…" He said nothing in reply, but he did give me this understanding look. Piccolo and I took that as the signal to leave and took off.

As we flew by Kuririn, Piccolo warned him that we needed to retreat. He joined us without a second thought. "Wh-what's Vegeta doin'? He'll be killed!" Kuririn asked as we moved.

"…For the first time ever, he's fighting for something other than himself. And he's giving his life for it." Even Piccolo's expression was distressed by the confirmation.

It was then that we felt Vegeta's chi rising exponentially. He then released it. The explosion from it was perhaps the largest I had ever seen, and even though we were quite a bit away, we still had to fight against the wind it produced.

There was nothing but silence when the wind finally died down. Vegeta's chi could no longer be sensed. He had given everything he had in that attack, even his life.

"Kuririn, Goshi, will you take the boys home?" Piccolo asked us as he handed Trunks off to Kuririn. Goten was still tucked safely under my arm, even though I might have been holding him a little too tightly.

We both agreed. "…Silence would be worse," Piccolo then told us, which somewhat confused both of us. "Tell their families. I don't know yet about Goku, but Gohan… Gohan was killed by Boo. I heard Vegeta say it." He then looked at me. "I'm sorry, Goshi." He left once it was clear that neither Kuririn nor I had anything to say.

…

Piccolo caught up with us a short time later, and he was in a panicked state. He quickly explained that he had watched Boo regenerate itself and heal Bobbidi. I could not explain how I felt as I listened. Rage, fear, pain, and who knows what else coursed through me. I wanted to go back and attack that thing, but would I be able to destroy that thing? Probably not. My power was somewhere around what Vegeta's had been which was clearly not enough.

"It's dangerous to stay below!" Piccolo shouted. He grabbed Trunks from Kuririn and looked at me. "Goshi, we're taking the boys to Kami-sama's palace! You… and them are our only hope now! …And a slim hope, at that…"

Kuririn, Piccolo, and I then raced to the palace. Once we were there, we put Trunks and Goten in a bed that Mr. Popo showed us. I then followed everyone back out to the entrance of the palace as Piccolo and Kuririn began to contemplate what we were going to do. I continued my silence as they talked. My state of mind was still too chaotic for me to be sure that I would actually be able to speak coherently.

"I can't believe Vegeta and Gohan are dead…" Kuririn finally said. "The kids'll take it hard… and we don't even know what happened to Goku…" He then looked back at Dende. "…Say, Dende… I mean… **Kami-sama**… could I bring my family here, too…? Is it unfair to want to save ourselves…?"

"What do you think?" he asked Piccolo.

"You're God. You decide," Piccolo explained.

"…Very well, then. The earth wouldn't be here if it weren't for you…"

That seemed to cheer Kuririn up. "Thanks! I'll bring 'em right over!"

Everyone then became distracted by a chi that suddenly appeared. It was Dad's. We immediately ran over to him and noticed that he had definitely been through an intense fight, but he seemed okay. As Dende healed him, Piccolo explained what happened while he had been knocked out (yeah, it seems that Vegeta knocked him out before he decided to go attack Boo).

"…So Gohan and the Lord of Lords… and even Vegeta…" Dad said once he was all caught up.

"Just as the Lord of Lords feared, Boo defies all imagination," Piccolo stated. "At this rate, every living being on earth and in the entire galaxy will be snuffed out."

Kuririn turned to Dad. "But at least you're here, Goku! You're the only one who can beat 'im! You get one full day out of heaven, right? You still have time!"

"…No. I can't do it," Dad said, which concerned both of us. "…Vegeta was just as strong as me… and he didn't even faze Boo. Sorry, but I don't have a chance."

"Oh… yeah…"

"Shoot… If only Vegeta and Gohan were still alive, we might have a chance…"

"…It wouldn't make the slightest difference… how many of us there are," Piccolo pointed out.

"No, I mean we could've fused."

I raised an eye brow at that comment. "You could have what…?"

"Fusion…!" Dende exclaimed. "The specialty of the Metamors!"

"You know them…?" Dad asked as he stood up. "I met a couple in the afterlife, and the taught me. You can only do it with somebody around the same size and power… but when they do it they become way stronger than sum of their parts. It's awesome! Every one of 'em was a wimp by himself-but once they fused, they were unbeatable!"

"Then… you could have fused with either Gohan or Vegeta… and fought Boo as one?" Piccolo seemed dumbfounded.

"I never tried it myself… There's nobody at my level in the afterlife… and it took me a week to learn the technique. I guess it doesn't matter anyway…" Dad then sighed.

"N-no! There's still a chance!" Kuririn exclaimed. "You're going back to the netherworld, right? Gohan and Vegeta'll be there, too! You could fuse there!"

"No… Goku can never return again, even fused with others," Piccolo stated. "And Vegeta, I fear… will be in a different place…"

"D-does that mean… it's hopeless…?" Kuririn then looked over at me. "But Goku… Goshi's still here! You can still fuse, right?"

I shook my head. "I don't think that could happen." Kuririn gave me a puzzled look. "The persons fusing have to be similar, correct? Well, I highly doubt it would work with people who are different genders. Even if it would work," I said while wearing a sarcastic grin, "I don't think that I want to be a shim (3) for any length of time."

Dad grinned at me. "You were paying attention."

"I try."

It was then that Mr. Popo interrupted. "Goten and Trunks are similar in size and power. Might **they** fuse?"

"Mr. Popo… you're a genius!" Dad yelled excitedly after a stunned moment of silence. "Piccolo, I can coach 'em until I have to leave-but that won't be enough time. You'll have to take over for me!"

"I guess that means that I'm gonna be left out again," I said regretfully under my breath while Kuririn celebrated.

"Woo-hoo! We have hope! Those two are gonna do it!"

"Unfortunately…" Piccolo stated. "It might take some time for Trunks and Goten to learn this. Many innocents will die in the meantime. Humanity itself may be wiped out… the earth itself may even be destroyed. This is a terrible gamble."

"Maybe so," Dad agreed, "but as long as you and the dragon balls are safe, it can all come back!" He then paused before turning his attention to me. "Goshi, I know you're upset, but you're not going down there!"

I tried to keep myself calm as I turned to face him. As soon as Piccolo stated that 'humanity itself may be wiped out,' I had begun to walk to the edge of the palace grounds. Trying to prevent the extinction of the human race had been one of my priorities when I was younger, so that really bothered me. "He'll probably go for the main population hubs… like the androids did… if we can get them out of there or distract Boo…"

"No." Dad's voice was incredibly stern. "I'm not going to allow you to risk your life too! Let the boys take care of it!"

"I'm used to fighting battles I can't win. Besides, I'm not going to sit back and do nothing this time! The last time you said something like that, Gohan got cocky and you and Mi… my Sensei got killed! Now, you're willing to let billions of people die? That doesn't sound like you at all!" I then tried to run, but he grabbed my arm. "Let go!"

"Goshi, listen to yourself!"

It was clear that the two of us were going to get into a severe argument, but that never happened as the sky grew dark. Someone had summoned Shenlong.

…

Oh no! Majin Boo is on the loose, and even Vegeta's sacrifice couldn't stop the monster. Can this fusion technique that Goku's mentioned really do the trick, or is there nothing that can stop this monster? Find out on the next exciting episode of dragonballz!

* * *

1 I know that we're accustomed to seeing Boo as 'Buu', but this is how it's been written in the manga translation.

2 Just for reference, someone's personality is shaped by those around them. The more prevalent that person is in their lives, the more their personality tends to influence that person.

3 Shim = she + him. A word used to describe those people who have qualities of both men and women or a person whose gender is difficult to identify.


	34. Global Broadcast

"Shenlong? The dragon god! But why…?" Dad asked once everyone was aware of what happened.

"Bulma had the dragon balls, right?" Kuririn pointed out, which confused me. I had not thought that anyone had any recent need of them. "They don't know what's goin' on, so why…?"

"Vegeta killed all those people…!"

"Wait… He did what!" That was news to me. When and where would he have done that? And, why? I mean, he had not done anything so vile in years. My only assumption was that it must have happened sometime before I was able to get to their earlier location and that something more had happened while I was at the tournament than I had originally assumed.

Dad just ignored my question as he continued. "They're bringing the back to life!"

"Oh, dear… If they use the two wishes now, the balls will turn to stone for a year!" Dende exclaimed.

"I've gotta stop 'em!" Dad then placed two of his fingers against his forehead. He was going to use his teleportation technique. "Rrrg… Bulma's chi is so hard to find… There-!" He then disappeared.

As Kuririn, Piccolo, and Dende waited for news as to what was going to happen, I saw my chance to make my escape. With them being distracted by both the dragon's presence and his chi, I would be able to get away from the palace without anyone noticing.

Since I had no idea when Dad would return, I slowly backed away from the others and made my way to the far edge of the platform. After looking over my shoulder to see if they had noticed, I jumped off the edge and let myself fall for a little before I took the risk of catching myself. After checking to see if anyone had moved, which they had not, I began to fly.

I was not going very quickly, mainly since I wanted to be as low-key as possible, but it worked out. The slow speed would give me the needed time to examine the situation and figure out how I should approach it. Although I really wanted to go to one of the cities and see if I could get the residents to evacuate, there would be no real chance of that happening. In the last few years, the people had gotten so skeptical of potential threats that it was unlikely that I would be able to just walk up to them and explain the situation. The only person who might be able to do that was Hercule, and I wanted to stay away from that liar as much as possible. Unfortunately, I might have to resort to that, so I could not rule it out.

I could attempt to scare the people out of the cities, but that would make me little better than Boo. I could also wait for Boo to start the killings and then go from there, but that was not very appealing either. Although, no matter how I looked at it, any potential result I got would probably come from whether or not the people viewed Boo as a threat.

It was then that I noticed that the sky had cleared again. It would not be long before Dad saw that I was missing, so my best bet to avoid him locating me was to land and continue on foot. Before that could happen a voice rang across the sky: "Can you hear me, earthlings? I am Bobbidi the Warlock! Don't bother looking for me! I speak directly into your minds by magic! Forgive this intrusion into your peaceful lives, but I had a terrible day, thanks to four idiots. And now I'm looking for them… Close your eyes and see. I'll send you a vision."

Although I was shaking with rage, I complied. When I did, I saw an image of Goten, Trunks, Piccolo, and surprisingly, myself.

"See them? These are the four I want. Come out! You know who you are! Or else… "

I immediately began to move to where Boo and Bobbidi were situated while the warlock sent another image, this time, of himself. "Oh. Allow me to introduce myself," he said, "I am Bobbidi, the fearsome warlock!" The image then changed. "And this is Boo the Djinn, my even more fearsome servant! No one can defeat Boo! **No one!**"

The image then changed to that of a city. "Heh heh heh! Watch this city! If the fools don't show themselves immediately… Warlocks hate to be messy. Let's kill them all very neatly. Now, Boo!"

"**HEY!**" I shouted as I finally got to the scene. I had really pushed myself, even in the ascended state, to get there before anything had happened.

Bobbidi was rather startled by my sudden appearance, but quickly recovered and seemingly became amused. "That was rather fast. I didn't think I'd be able to lure you out so quickly." He then looked around. "Where are the others?"

"I'm the only one who came… or could come, for that matter." The words came from between my teeth. Bobbidi was seemingly able to sense the tension and rage emanating from my body; he smiled at it, but at the same time, he moved just enough so that Boo was between him and me.

"But, that's not really important, is it?" I asked him rather harshly, even though excitement coursed through my body. "I'm here. Turn your attentions towards me and away from anything else."

The warlock just chuckled. "If that's the way you want it, fine, but once you're dead, we'll just go back to proving how determined we are in finding your friends… That is, unless, you want to take us to them."

"Let's just get on with this," I hissed. "You know my type, yes? That should give you my answer."

"Of course, have it your way." The warlock then looked over at Boo, who had been staring at me in a rather childish way for some time, "Okay Boo, show that fool what you're made of!"

Boo laughed and moved towards me. "Me get to kill you!" it chanted happily. In the background, I could just hear Bobbidi telling his _captive_ audience to pay attention so that they can see what will happen to those who oppose him.

I watched it move towards me as I tried to weigh my few options. He was definitely stronger and faster than I was and was able to regenerate. Hand-to-hand fighting was definitely out of the question; that would definitely result in death. My best bet was definitely to use ranged attacks, seeing as I was still hoping that I could be enough of a distraction that those in the nearby city would be able to escape. If I could stay behind Boo, it would be even better, since it appeared that it could not sense chi.

Before it could move close enough to hit me, I fired a low grade chi blast at it so that I could give myself a bit of a smoke screen. As soon as it hit, I immediately flew behind it and slammed it as hard as I could in the head. I followed it and was able to bounce it back to the sky. My next move was to hit it with my signature attack, Ritsuzen.

I held my breath as the smoke cleared. Boo's chi had not decreased, which I had a feeling it would not, but I wanted to see how effective that particular type of attack was. There were other attacks that I had hidden up my sleeve, but I really did not want to use them unless necessary.

"Hee hee hee!" When Boo emerged from the smoke, I could tell that its malleable skin was slightly misshapen and that there was a decent sized hole blown into part of its upper body, but that meant nothing, and within a moment, it had corrected the problem. That gave me my answer, that attack was nowhere near strong enough.

"My turn!" Boo then rushed forward with a speed that I had not expected. There was no time to react as it punched my face, which sent me flying backwards. What pain! I had been hit pretty hard before, but nothing in the past compared to this. As I attempted to right myself, I was glad that there was no asphalt beneath me. If there was, I probably would have landed face first on it, just like old times.

As soon as I caught myself, I sensed that there was something coming towards me. I had just enough time to look up and see that there were several chi blasts coming towards me before I moved out of the way. I was rather surprised to see that Boo continued shooting the blasts at me as I moved. That was rather shocking; just the way it was executed reminded me of how Vegeta attacked.

A sudden realization then hit me. This thing had learned Vegeta's attack! It had only seen it once! That meant that it was able to learn attacks just by watching them, which was not a good thing. Since it was almost a given that I would not be the last person to fight this creature, I would have to try to minimize the chance it got to learn any of my attacks. The way to do that would be to attack it from behind. It was not a very ethical way to fight, but there really was no other choice.

I then realized that Boo's chi was behind me. I had allowed myself to become so distracted by my thoughts that I had allowed myself to be caught off guard. Needless to say, I was cursing at myself for being so stupid.

There was just enough time to turn and partially block myself before I was hit again. This time, I was able to catch myself a bit faster, so when it tried to come at me again, I used an older technique, zan-zo-ken (1), to move behind it and prepare another attack. If this one did not do any damage, nothing I could do would.

As I had thought, Boo could not sense my chi, so it looked around in confusion as it tried to figure out where I went. I smiled as I watched him, seeing as its playfulness and innocence reminded me of when Goten began training, in a weird sort of way.

There was no time to really dwell on that though, I was going to lose my chance to attack. "Kokugen…" I said as I formed a condensed ball of chi in my right hand and threw it, "MEIBATSU!" The ball then exploded into hundreds of smaller ones that created two different spheres around Boo, who was surprised by it. The spheres then imploded, for lack of a better word, and exploded upon hitting Boo. (2)

The explosion was rather intense, due to the condensed chi that was used. I was unhappy, to say the least, since I had designed that attack so that I could use it against Rildo, but it was a good test of the attack.

"Ahh…! WHAT DID… YOU… DO!" Bobbidi shouted at me when he still unable to see Boo from the smoke. The sound of small objects falling was rather noticeable. "BOO…! …You couldn't have…!"

I said nothing as I turned back towards the smoke; it had begun to dissipate. It was clear that the attack had done something, seeing as Boo looked something like a piece of chewing gum that had been chewed, spit out, and had a shoe step on it. Also, it looked like at least part of it was missing, which probably had been decimated or was what I had heard falling after the attack. It was not the most attractive site.

Once I noted the appearance, I realized that there was no way that this fight was going to end well for me. I could attempt to do my best attack again, or try a mixture of that and some of my other ones, but that would minimize the chance that Boo would not learn one or more of them. Also, since I have a tendency to put more into those sorts of attacks than the normal fighter, I was very limited in how close they could be used together and how often they could be used.

"But, no matter how I look at it," I said to no one other than myself, "my best bet is to keep blasting that thing… even if it does completely drain me." As I watched Boo reform, I began to concentrate my chi again. When it looked like it was about to move again, I began to fire blast after blast at it.

A sudden blow to the back caught me off guard and sent me flying into the smoke from my attacks. I could not believe how fast Boo had moved! I knew that it was fast, but I had no idea that it could move _that_ fast! I could not even sense its movements. The next thing I knew, there was a hand around my throat. Boo had grabbed me from the front and was beginning to squeeze.

"That's it, Boo!" I heard Bobbidi happily yell. "Break her neck!"

Boo laughed in reply. "Buh-bye!" it told me as it opened its eyes a bit and grinned evilly. The pressure on my neck increased.

It was a very bad situation. I attempted to wrestle out of its grasp, but I could not even move its arm as centimeter. My air supply was definitely being cut off, and there was only a limited amount of time before I passed out. The only thing I could think of doing was cutting off its arm, which I did. The amazing part of it was that its hand was still squeezing my neck after it had been removed from its body. It did take some effort, but I was able to remove the hand from my being, and for good measure, destroyed it before I focused on catching my breath.

Boo's hand quickly regrew, and its owner just laughed and playfully taunted me. I gritted my teeth. How the heck was I going to be able to attack it if it pulled another stunt like that? Boo decided to answer that question for me; I wasn't. It decided that it was going to replicate the attack it did early in its fight with Vegeta. It sent out a major shockwave combined with chi on all sides. There was no way that I was going to be able to escape from it so I just braced myself for the explosion.

Just before the blast hit, I felt something touch my shoulder, and in the next instant, the scene in front of me disappeared.

…

When the scene reappeared, I fell forward in relief. That was way too close! It then occurred to me that I was not in the same place as before, so I looked up and realized that I was back in front of Kami's palace. That meant that the only way I could have gotten there was because of Dad…

Crap! I looked over my shoulder at him, and almost shuddered. His expression was one of the angriest that I had ever seen.

"Goshi! Are you alright?" I was surprised to see that Kuririn was talking to me.

"I could be better…" I admitted. I was rather surprised to hear the embarrassment in my voice.

"What were you thinking? You saw what that thing did to Vegeta!"

"…All I wanted to do was…"

"I specifically told you not to go down there," Dad told me in a very harsh voice, making me jump slightly.

"And I told you that I can't sit back and watch people get killed! But what about you!" I nearly yelled at him, my momentary hesitance was forgotten. "What happened to the man who laid down his life to protect his planet and its people! What happened to the Saiyan who would take on an opponent as soon as possible, even if he was not completely sure that he could beat him! What happened to **my Otou-san! Or, had I deluded myself with the legend of the man instead of his reality!**"

Dad's expression shifted from anger to a softer one that I could not quite place. "Goshi, I no longer exist here. It wouldn't be right for me to interfere. Just let the boys take care of it."

I began to shake with rage. "**HYPOCRITE! THAT DIDN'T STOP YOU FROM FOLLOWING THE LORD OF LORDS TO STOP MAJIN BOO BEING RELEASED!**" I took a breath to calm down, slightly. "Besides, we all know how reliable trusting young kids with little experience have been in the past! Gohan ran from some of his battles, and became arrogant in the one that cost you your life! I've been too scared to move before, and my Sensei got severely hurt when I refused to follow him once. We don't know how they're going to act!"

Dad placed his hand on my shoulder in order to calm me down slightly. "Goshi, trust me. Everything will be fine! Just watch!" It looked like Dad was about to say something else, but he was interrupted by another broadcast from Bobbidi. Apparently, he had broken off his original one when Dad took me from the battle.

He started it with a rather evil laugh. "Sorry for the interruption, but it appears that the foolish warrior who was fighting Boo went and got herself killed. Now, where were we?" From the way that was stated, I guess he and Boo had looked for me once Dad pulled me from the fight. "Ah, yes, I was about to demonstrate Boo's power so that the fools I want to kill would come out. Well… since it worked for one, maybe it will work on the others."

He gestured towards the city once again. "Now, Boo!" I watched in agony as Boo somehow managed to lift the people of the city up into the air, change them into candy, and eat them. "Do you begin to understand?" Bobbidi then paused for a moment and looked back towards the city. "Tsk! Tsk! So messy, leaving this empty city lying around. I suppose we'll have to clean up ourselves. Boo, clean this up! But don't scrub too hard, or you'll destroy the earth."

Boo happily complied, leaving an area of flat ground where the city once was. "Ah! How helpful!" Bobbidi laughed once Boo was done. "Oh, no… Did we make **more** of a mess? I'll show them again…" Images of Trunks, Goten, and Piccolo came into our minds. "Since they didn't show themselves like the girl did, I'll need you to tell me where they are! Oh, and if you don't, you'll be turned into candy and eaten! We'll finish up with everyone on earth in, oh, five days. So you better turn them in soon!" He laughed again. "Oh, I almost forgot! How to contact me… Just call for me in your mind. Think of me, and I'll hear your thoughts. I'll gladly accept calls from the three fools, of course! Oh! We've gotten news already!"

A new voice sounded and claimed that he was one of the people who were working at the Tenka'ichi Budokai. He gave Bobbidi the names that Piccolo, Trunks, and Goten had registered under. Bobbidi was rather unimpressed since he was unable to give him an address and killed the person who 'wasted his time'. Although we could not see the death, we heard his screams.

"No more crank calls!" Bobbidi told us. "You don't want to die like that, do you? I'm much too busy traveling around the world killing humans. I might be coming to **your **town next. It's no use hiding. In a few days you'll all be gone! I'll be waiting!" His call then ended.

Immediately after he finished, everyone on the lookout erupted into angry conversations. Dad once again placed his hand on my shoulder. "Now do you see how useless your fight with Boo was?"

"…I had a feeling they'd destroy the city, no matter what I did…" I explained. It was true. Bobbidi was the kind of person who would do something like that just to scare the answers out of people. Psychological warfare is a very powerful weapon.

"Huh? Then why did you…!"

"You've never seen genocide close up before… so you wouldn't really understand. I was hoping that I could just by those people some time to escape… Even if just a few did, it's better than nothing…"

That seemed to drop that particular conversation. It then shifted to training the boys, although it was more than a little bit later when they finally woke up.

…

Dad rather sternly explained to Goten and Trunks what had happened to Gohan and Vegeta, which caused both of them to cry. "**We don't have time for crying! Learn this first if you want revenge! GOT THAT?"** Dad then softened his voice. "Sorry, but we don't know when Bobbidi will find us. We've gotta start now."

"Will you use the room of spirit and time?" Piccolo asked rather hesitantly.

"No. They can only use it for two days in their entire lives, right?" I did not remember anyone explaining that to me when we used it before Cell (3). "They might need it later. I'm sure they're going to learn this quick. Let's start. You've gotta remember this too, Piccolo…"

…

Now that Bobbidi is searching for our heroes, will they be able to prepare themselves before he and Boo find them? Or will one of the residents of earth rat them out before they can? And what about the fusion? Will it really be able to defeat Boo? Find out next time on the next thrilling episode of Dragonballz!

* * *

1 Kan-zo-ken means shadow attack. We Americans have affectionately dubbed this as the after-image technique.

2 Kokugen Meibatsu approximately translates to "Instant of Retribution". Yes, it could be said that it is an arrogant sounding name, but it's supposed to represent the idea that it is extremely difficult to escape from it unharmed. Also, the attack is very similar in respect to Piccolo's "Hellzone Grenade" (I'm unsure of the Japanese name), only with several more chi spheres.

3 Yes, this statement very much contradicts information that we've received earlier on in the series. From what was mentioned during the Cell saga, it appeared that the Room of Spirit and Time (the hyperbolic time chamber, for those who forgot) could be used frequently without restrictions, seeing as it was hinted that Goku used it a lot when he was younger. This could be a mistake from Akira Toriyama, but it could also be a translator mistake (it does happen).


	35. The Third Transformation

After Goten and Trunks had calmed themselves, Dad decided that it would be a good idea for him to give them a basic understanding of the fusion technique. Even though I was still angry with him, I grudgingly admitted that I should listen as well. This information may come in handy at a later time.

"You'll only be able to stay fused for half an hour, even if you succeed," he explained in that good-natured tone of his. "Then you'll split off in two and won't be able to fuse again for a while."

"Only a half hour…? So little…" Piccolo had grimaced as he spoke.

"They'll be able to get it done, if they do it right! That's how powerful it is!" Dad then turned to the boys. "Okay, first turn Super Saiyan." The boys did nothing but glare at him, which caught him off guard. "…What?"

"What were **you **doing when Tou-san and Gohan-san got killed?" Trunks demanded of him. I could not blame him for wanting to know that. He had probably found out from someone, either his mom or my brother, why my father had died. If so, he definitely knew that my father should have been there.

I watched my dad carefully. It was clear that he was trying to determine how to answer the question, seeing as the boys' looks stated that they did not trust him. After a moment of silence, he finally said, "I was out cold." I was definitely surprised that he admitted that.

"Knocked out?" Trunks repeated in angry disbelief. "At a time like that? And you're supposed to be strong?"

"What are we gonna be able to learn from you?" Goten added.

Piccolo was clearly enraged by the boys' words, so was I for that matter. "How… dare you…? You are speaking to **Goku**-!"

"It's okay, Piccolo… I **am **weak now," Dad admitted. "I could never beat Boo…" He then looked at the boys. "But I can still teach you this trick. If you want to get them back for everyone's deaths, this is the only way."

The boys were still apprehensive, which made my irritation worse. I was not exactly sure what was causing it either. Was it their indecision? Or was it that I was upset that they did not trust my father? The latter surprised me, once I thought about it. After everything that had happened thus far, I thought I had lost faith in him.

A laugh then sounded through the air, which immediately got everyone's attention: it was Bobbidi. "We're here again, Earthlings! Bobbidi and Boo! I've found an even bigger city this time. And it's about to be reduced to nothing… unless Demon Jr., Trunks, and Goten show themselves!"

"H-he's talking about **us**!" Trunks was definitely surprised by that, and more surprised by the concept that he could not figure out where Bobbidi was.

"Close your eyes, Trunks-kun! You can see them!" my brother shouted.

"Don't look!" Piccolo warned them. "It's better that way."

"Looks like no one's going to help me," Bobbidi said with a false disappointment. "Oh well… The casualties increase. Maybe this time they'll turn into chocolate." As the boys shouted in horror, Boo carried out his master's wishes. After everyone became chocolate, it ate them, and then destroyed the city.

"Now Boo's all stuffed with chocolate," Bobbidi continued. "We'll just **blow up** the next town. Heh heh… Where shall we go next…?"

"Bobbidi! Boo! This is Trunks..!" I was horrified when I realized that Trunks was actually calling out to that monster. Piccolo seemed to be thinking along the same lines, especially when my brother called out as well.

"Oh…! At last, at last!"

"We can't do it now, but soon—we'll kill you both!"

"Stop talking to him!" Piccolo shouted at them. "He'll find out where we are!"

"Hey! Where are you?" Bobbidi shouted. "Come out here! Are you hiding? Cowards!"

"Now, are you ready… to learn?" Dad asked, unfazed by what happened. The boys surprisingly nodded immediately. The shock of seeing what happened must have convinced them that they needed to learn the fusion from Dad.

I took that as my queue to leave. I was still in a bad mood, and that would probably be more of a distraction than anything else. Also, I had accidently cut my palm with my nails while I watched Bobbidi's display, so it was as good of a time as any to take care of that.

But, before I did that, I wished my brother luck with his training. I hoped that he took his training seriously; I did not know if I would be able to stand it if he was taken away too.

…

"You're not watching them?" Videl asked as she found me sitting in a rather secluded part of the palace. My answer was no more than a shrug.

I thought that she was going to leave me alone when she did not get an answer, but surprisingly, she sat down beside me. Her face was swollen; apparently, she had been crying. "Do you think that you'll win?"

"I'll be honest with you: I have no idea," I told her as calmly as possible. "If this fusion thing is as powerful as Tou-san says it is, then we have a chance…"

She was silent for a moment. "That's not what I was hoping to hear. I mean, didn't he know what he was doing when it came to Cell?"

I sighed before I replied. This conversation was going in a direction in which I did not want it. "He thought he did." My words were harsher than I had intended. "He misjudged someone's character and paid for it with his life."

Her eyes widened. "What do you mean?"

Another audible sigh escaped from my lips. She wanted me to give her an explanation of what happened at the Cell Games, which I had no desire to do. After letting giving what I thought was an appropriate amount of silence, I was about to begin when there was another interruption from Bobbidi:

"Earthlings! I've just learned something fascinating! It seems that one of my three targets lives in the **Capsule Corp.** house in the **City of the West**. And that happens to be where we're heading now! Better show yourself, Trunks—Or your city will go bye-bye!"

It was my turn to stand. There was no way that Trunks or Bulma would willingly standby while their home was destroyed, especially when Bulma's parents had decided to remain there. I had to know what was going to be done. "Sorry, but that story will have to wait until later…" I then took a shortcut, via the window, to the main floor of the palace.

I felt Tou-san and Trunks leave by teleportation and flying, respectively, by the time I had managed to reach everyone else. "What happened?"

"Oh, Goshi! Goku went to stall Boo while Trunks gets the Dragon Radar," Kuririn told me. I bit my lip; no matter what happened, this was not going to be good.

"Watch, Earthlings!" Bobbidi called, once Dad had interrupted his journey to Capsule Corp. "You'll see what happens to fools who defy us!" Dad immediately leveled up to the transformed state, which caused Bobbidi to laugh. "What futility! Vegeta did just that—and fell!"

Dad just smiled. "Okay, then… I'll have to go **past** the Super Saiyan level **beyond** the original Super Saiyan level!"

His words made little sense to us. Did that mean that he was going to transform again? Was that even possible?

Dad then did something that was unexpected, he yelled. "GO GET THE RADAR! YOU HEAR ME?" Dad rarely yelled, so it was rather unsettling. But after that, I noticed that Trunks' chi began moving at a high rate of speed. He must have stopped, causing Dad to do that.

"…? Who are you talking to…?" Bobbidi asked as he looked over his shoulder. "What 'radar'?"

"Nothing," Dad said in a slightly amused voice. "Where were we?"

"Foo. Cooking up some hopeless scheme, are you?"

"Basically." Dad then returned to his normal state, much to everyone's surprise.

"…Why turn back?" Boo asked. "Give up?"

"Not at all. I wanted to teach you about Super Saiyans so it's easier to understand."

Bobbidi was growing impatient. "Forget it! I don't care anyway!"

"Oh, don't say that. So… this is normal." Dad then transformed. "This is Super Saiyan." He leveled up again. "And this is the Super Saiyan level beyond **that**. 'Super Saiyan 2,' I guess." Bobbidi then said something, which Dad ignored. "And then…**this**… IS THE NEXT LEVEL UP!"

Dad's chi literally exploded. The sheer quantity was immeasurable, and it just kept growing! It was as if there was no end! When he was finally done, the result shocked everyone. Not only was his chi intense, but so was his appearance.

This was much different from any of the other transformations. His hair was longer; down near his knees. His eyebrows were gone, and the pure green eyes now had black pupils. It was so alien.

"This is Super Saiyan level three," Dad explained. "Sorry it took a while. I'm not used to it yet."

"You look scary," Boo said happily. "But Boo not scared."

"Piffle! (1) Level three, my tailbone!" Bobbidi exclaimed. "Finish him off, Boo!"

"Yeah. Finish me off." There was no way to tell if Dad was being sarcastic or not.

A hysterical laugh came from Bobbidi's mouth. "Humiliate him while the world the whole planet watches!"

Dad never gave Boo a chance to attack him. Within a blink of an eye, Dad had grabbed Boo's antenna and began using him like a ball and paddle (2). Once he was done with that, Dad spun him around before he let go, which sent Boo flying into the ocean below them.

Boo immediately recovered and came back for more. He responded to Dad's attack by using one of Vegeta's attacks, which Dad was able to block. Boo then extended his arm and punched Dad, which did not faze him. They then continued to trade punches, until Dad decided to use the Kamehameha wave. It cut through Boo's stomach, but he immediately healed himself.

Then Boo decided to fire Dad's attack back at him. Although Dad was surprised, he knocked the attack back at Boo, who just dodged it. Unfortunately, that allowed the attack to hit the earth, which warped that part of the planet.

"Boo! Careful, stupid! That almost got **me**!" Bobbidi scolded before he returned to making fun of Dad. "I bet that blew up a tenth of the planet! What kind of champion of justice are you?"

Dad just ignored him. "You don't look smart, but you are," he told Boo. "You learn your enemy's moves incredibly fast." He then relaxed and returned to his normal form; Trunks had begun to move again.

"Hey, why you turn?" Boo asked him. "This is fun! I want more!"

"I'm honored. But I don't have time. I can't play with you forever. I'm heading back."

Bobbidi laughed again. "Did you think you could escape alive? Boo, kill him to teach them all a lesson!"

"Bobbidi, the ones you're looking for will come in three… no, **two** days. Just wait. Stop this killing. Just wait two days, okay?"

That seemed to interest Boo. "…Are they strong…?"

"Why should I do what you say?" Bobbidi demanded. "Maybe we'll kill more people, just to spite you!"

"Too bad…" Dad told him. "It would've been fun for Boo. I'll make sure they chew you out in Hell when you get there." Dad then teleported.

It was then that Boo finally turned on Bobbidi and killed him.

…

When Dad returned, Piccolo immediately went over and spoke to him. While that occurred, Boo began a killing spree.

That destroyed the feeling of being mesmerized that I had felt while I had watched Dad fight; what replaced it was rage. Dad had the ability, or at least _I_ thought he did, to destroy that thing all along. Without even thinking about it, I marched up to him.

Dad seemed to think that I was going to say something pleasant to him, as he turned to me with a smile as I approached, but that was quickly replaced by surprised as I slapped him. "Weak my ass!" I hissed at him. "**You** **could have stopped this hours ago!** **Why? Why didn't you?**

Dad looked at me knowingly, which made my anger worse. "That Super Saiyan level three can only be done in the Afterlife, where time doesn't really mean much. If I do it in this world, it uses up too much energy. So basically, I have to borrow against the time I have left. I've probably got less than an hour left. That's why I didn't use it earlier."

I could feel my eyes widen in shock. If a person was alive and learned this technique, their life span would be cut every time they used it. This meant that it could only be done by someone who was dead. My mind wanted to have time to process that information as well as the fact that Dad would be leaving us, again, shortly, but my rage would not allow it.

I just shook my head and backed away from him. "You're not him. You're not Tou-san." I could feel the tears run down my cheeks as I spoke. "Tou-san gave up his life to save us, not once but twice. He'd never let something like the loss of time stop him from protecting what he held dear. You're not him."

"Goshi…!" The man wearing my dad's face reached out to me.

"STAY AWAY FROM ME!" I shouted before I ran back into the palace.

…

I barely noticed when Trunks returned. My mind was just a wave of chaotic thoughts that had no rhyme or reason. The person who wore my dad's face was not my dad. My brother was gone. The world was being destroyed. There was nothing I could do to help either. The world had spun out of control, and I could do nothing to stop it.

This war was supposed to help me regain part of what I lost during the years of peace, but that was not happening. I had felt despair before, but this was hopelessness.

Sometime later, someone, Videl, I think, came to tell me that the imposter was leaving. "Good riddance!" was my reply. I was not going to move; I was not going to admit that person was the same person I had nearly worshiped as a child. I could tell when he left though. His vanishing presence further ripped apart my heart.

…

The next day was practically a blur. I do not remember moving at all until I heard someone mention that the boys were going to try to fuse for real. Curious, I moved myself to a place where I could safely watch from a location where I would not have to encounter anyone.

Everyone watched as the boys did some ridiculous moves. When they preformed their last move, there was an odd light, which was temporarily blinding. When it vanished there was only one person standing where two had been.

The fusion had been successful, but I was not sure whether to laugh or be discouraged. The person that resulted from the technique was chubby and his chi was not all that impressive. He also got out of breath extremely quickly. If this was the result from the fusion, that was supposed to be unstoppable, then there was no hope for the world.

I noted that Piccolo had begun yelling, which was a bit surprising. Apparently, this was not what was supposed to happen as someone had made a mistake. Again, I was not sure if I should laugh or not.

The boys remained in the incorrectly fused state for about a half hour before they returned to normal, and, about an hour after that, they tried it again. This time I was not able to restrain my laughter; the result was a person who was as skinny as a sickly old man and just as weak.

Once again, the boys had made a mistake and had to wait for the fusion to wear off before they could try it again. Their third try was rather impressive. It must have gone correctly as the chi I could feel from the resulting person was incredible. This was the first time since this fight had begun that I had felt like there was some hope. The only question now was if this person could use that chi impressively.

Piccolo said something to this new warrior that I could not hear, but apparently the warrior's answer was not what he wanted to hear. "You fool!" Piccolo yelled loudly enough for me to hear him clearly. "You know nothing about Boo! You may be powerful—but scarcely enough to defeat him!"

I had a feeling where this was going and moved from my position to behind the fusion warrior. "Don't underestimate me," he told Piccolo. His voice disturbed me slightly. It was a strange combination between Trunks' and Goten's voices. "How about I prove it—by bringing back Boo's corpse?"

"That arrogance is not very attractive," I said harshly, which caught everyone's attention. "Not only that, but it has no place in a battle. People have died because of it."

The warrior just laughed at me. "That's funny, Goshi. There's no way that could happen."

"Really? Ask someone about what happened during the fights with Freeza and Cell; you'll think differently." I then walked closer to him. "But if you still think I'm wrong, why don't we have a little sparring match. If you can beat me, then you'll be fine. If not, then you'll need more practice. What do you say?"

The warrior just shrugged. "Why not? If I can defeat you then everyone will get off my back." He then got into a defensive position. "Are you ready?"

…

Is Gotenks, the warrior born of the fusion really that powerful? And if so, will he really be able to defeat Boo, like Goku had promised? Find out next time on the next action-packed episode of Dragonballz!

* * *

1 Editor note: I personally think that this is possibly the funniest sound verbal sound effect I've encountered. I'll never respect Bobbidi's authority again. XD

2 I hope you people know what that is. If not, I feel old. In all honesty, it's just a ball that's attached with a string to a paddle. The goal is to see how many times in a row you can hit the ball. It's not quite as easy as it sounds.


	36. Test Run

"…You're kidding… right…?" Kuririn asked me as I walked across the platform and over to its edge. "You're actually going to fight them… err… him?"

I smiled before I replied. The stunned silence that had occurred after my proposal had amused me, lifting my spirits for the first time in several hours. "This will be a good test of his promised abilities…" I then went into the ascended state. "But, the only way to see that is if he fights me while I'm at full strength." I then turned towards the fused warrior. I was going to have to ask someone what they call him. "So, are you ready to do this?"

There was another stunned silence before the fused warrior began to laugh. "Even if you are at full strength, I'll still beat you." He then rubbed his nose in a rather arrogant fashion. "Not only am I stronger than you now, but you'll go easy on me just because I'm family."

"I can't wait to beat that arrogance out of you," I said in a tone dripping with an excitement that I had rarely used in the past several years. "Trust me, there's no way I'm going to hold back, which, should make this all the more interesting, don't you think?"

As I floated into the air by the platform, I motioned for him to come. This had to be done. This kid was a danger to himself because of his attitude. The probability of him making a foolish mistake was high, and there was no way that I would be able to stand it if I lost my youngest brother because of something like that.

"Are you ready, Goshi?" the warrior asked after he joined me in the sky.

"Go ahead and start whenever you're ready."

"You're gonna regret that decision." The warrior charged and started the assault with a right hook. It was easy to block, and he was rather surprised when I did. It did not bother him for long as he started a combination of attacks.

He would constantly switch between punching and kicking. For a normal person, this type of fighting would be hard to block, but to me it was predictable and childish. The only thing that made it challenging was his speed and his strength, which was much more than I had expected. As he attacked, I kept myself on the defensive so that I could study his style. That was one of those things that I had learned from my teacher.

"Am I too much for you, Goshi?" the warrior asked in that arrogant tone as he backed away and sent a large chi blast at me. "You haven't even tried to attack me."

I easily dodged it and took his back. "No," I said softly, which caused him to turn in surprise. "I was just getting a feel for your moves, and guess what? I'm not impressed."

A kick from me sent him flying backwards. I quickly followed and reached him just as he recovered. The two of us launched into a furious assault, but this time, I had taken the offensive. This seemed to startle him a bit as he had not expected to need to be defensive. It irritated him, which caused his moves to be more reckless than they had been.

At one point, I decided to move back from him a bit so that I could change tactics. He saw it as a chance to attack, and lunged towards me. To humor him, I made it look like he connected using the zan zo ken, but in reality, moved out of his eyesight and repressed my chi.

"How'd you like that?" he demanded proudly. That pride then vanished and was replaced my surprise as my 'shadow' began to fade. "W-what…? How'd she…?"

I then sent several low-grade chi blasts towards him and quickly moved out of his line of sight before he either dodged or reflected them. "You've got to do better than that!" he called out as he dodged them.

He then began to turn as he sensed my chi. "There's no way that you can sneak up on me again…! Huh!" Instead of finding me behind him, he found another chi blast, which was larger than the previous ones. He once again dodged it, which allowed me to come from above him and use my interlocked hands to send him flying again.

This time, I did not chase him. I just waited for him to recover.

"How'd you get there?" he demanded of me once he caught himself. "I didn't even sense you."

A smirk found its way across my face. "I spent six years fighting against the artificial humans with my Sensei… and if you didn't know, we cannot sense their chi. This makes fighting with them very difficult as you have to rely almost entirely upon your eyes. After returning home, both of us noticed that the other fighters tended to solely rely on sensing chi, which made it more difficult than expected when it was their turn to fight them."

I paused with my story a moment so that I could enjoy the look that was a mixture of confusion and anger on his face. "After the Cell Games, I began experimenting with that concept during my sparring matches with Gohan. Although it is almost impossible for a transformed Saiyan to completely mask their chi, I can lower it much more than expected due to Tou-san's training. Because of this, I can use chi blasts to cover my movements by making them more noticeable than I am." A chuckle escaped my lips. "So, the lesson here is that you should never forget to use your eyes."

As he tried to process the information and come up with a witty reply, I charged him. He hastily moved out of the way, which gave me the perfect opportunity to use my favorite attack. He was rather surprised when he noticed the large, shaky red wave approaching him and dodged it. That was not what I had been expecting, as I really had not put _that _much into it, but I did use the moment to once again get close to him.

"What did I tell you about using your eyes?" I asked as I hit him again. I then began another volley of attacks, and this time, I did not give him time to attack me again. Once I felt that he had enough, I knocked him onto the platform and followed.

"Well, we've learned a couple things here," I said as I approached him and reverted back to my normal state. Everyone, including him, watched me carefully as I approached. "You're definitely powerful, and if you had done the fusion as Super Saiyans, it would be unlikely that I would be able to match you in either speed or strength. Actually, you could have defeated me in your current state."

The warrior began to chuckle. "Even after all of that, you still have to admit that I'm better than you."

"Since when did I say that?" I asked sharply, which caused his smile to fade. "Your technique is childish and predictable, and you can easily be misled by your senses. There is no way that you handle Boo the way you are now. Maybe, when you're a Super Saiyan, you'll be able to win by overpowering it." I then looked over at Piccolo. "Was that enough…?"

He seemed a little taken aback when I looked at him. He hesitantly replied 'yes.' I then walked past everyone and began to head back towards the palace. I was rather surprised when my mother stopped me.

"You could've killed your own brother!" She was gripping my arm rather tightly. It was very clear that I had scared her. Mother had never really cared for the fact that her children were fighters, and after seeing something that intense after losing one of them was a little too much for her.

"I wasn't trying," I told her in what I thought was a reassuring way.

"That's not what it looked like to me!"

"Kaa-san, if I was being serious, I would have aimed." She looked at me blankly, and I tried to comfort her. "Calm down. I'll explain it better once you do, okay?" It took a little bit, but I managed to get her to agree. I then excused myself right as Piccolo was starting to lecture the fusion warrior.

…

I was still feeling euphoric after I taken some time to freshen up. It had to be the Saiyan blood in me that was causing it, and even though it was not really appropriate for the current situation, it was definitely a welcome change of pace. I then used that feeling as inspiration for some last minute training before the boys tried fusing again.

This time, they were going to do it as Super Saiyans. This was both comforting and concerning. Their fused form, Gotenks, was going to be exponentially more powerful than before, but would that form still be as arrogant as before? That was what really made me nervous, even though I was trying not to think about it. Boo needed to be stopped as soon as possible, and that temperament might end up preventing that from happening.

Piccolo said that he was going to have the boys train for the rest of the day, I guess to see if he could knock the cockiness out of them. I was pretty sure that he was not going to succeed. I mean, they tried to do that for Vegeta, and it failed miserably. So, if he is any indication of how this will work, because both Trunks and Goten look up to him, then Piccolo's efforts are just in vain.

My training lasted for several hours before I decided that it was a good time for a break. I was going to use that time to eat and try to possibly think of any alternative solutions to the current situation, but that fell through as Mother decided that I had to do something productive that did not involve fighting. There was no arguing with her either.

…

About mid-morning the next day, the boys prepared to do the fusion once again. As the boys transformed and got into the perspective positions, Piccolo warned them not to get carried away like they had the previous day.

That comment got thrown out the window when they went through with it. Gotenks' chi was absolutely astounding. The force of it nearly knocked a couple of people over, but it was that attitude that really got me. It was even worse than before.

After Piccolo asked him to demonstrate his abilities, he said, "You sure you want to do it here? I might break the buildings. Let's go down to earth!" He then took off without a second thought. Piccolo took off after him, cursing.

Bulma asked me if I was going to follow them, and I shook my head. I had tried to get through to him once, and it failed. There was really nothing, other than perhaps forbidding the boys from dinner, that I could do. Besides, there was no way that I would be able to catch him, since he was so fast! As we spoke, I could sense Gotenks circling the globe repeatedly at a remarkable pace. Piccolo could not keep up with him, and it was almost amusing to sense him chasing him.

Gotenks eventually let Piccolo catch up to him for a moment before he flew, by himself, to where Boo was located. It was then that I noticed something somewhat odd; there was another chi, nowhere near as powerful, with it. After a moment of confusing, I realized that it was Hercule. What in the world was that man doing there? He was going to get himself killed!

Gotenks arrived at that location as I was contemplating how to interoperate the new information. And, it was practically just after he had gotten there when his fusion dissipated. I could just imagine the looks on the faces of the boys before they flew off, which caused me to laugh. In a way, it served them right.

Piccolo came back a little afterwards, without the boys. He was clearly in a bad mood and really did not want to be questioned about what had happened until after the boys returned. He just took to his habit of looking over the side of the platform, which is what I heard the Kami-sama before Dende had done.

…

Piccolo was absolutely furious with the boys when they came back, and was going to put them through the training from Hell, but that fell through after their respective mothers realized just how tired they were. They were then, grudgingly, allowed to take a nap.

It was only a little later when I noticed that Piccolo and Dende were discussing Boo and Hercule. "You mean to tell me that he's still alive?" I asked as I approached them. I could tell from their expressions that they could tell that I was clearly surprised. "I had noticed that earlier when I was focusing on the boys, but I honestly thought he was not going to last that much longer."

"Uh… yeah… apparently, Hercule and Boo have managed to strike up some sort of friendship, and since then, Boo has held back on killing anyone," Dende explained.

"Huh… That man actually has a use. Who would have thought?"

"You better not let Videl hear you say that." Although Dende was trying to scold me, he was just as amused.

I just shrugged. "But, putting that aside, is this only a temporary thing, or…?"

"It's impossible to say," Piccolo told me. He still seemed irritated. "There is still a threat." Piccolo and Dende suddenly glanced back at earth, with worried expressions. It was quite awkward, since they are able to 'see', in a sense, what is actually occurring on the earth, but usually do not voice it. Unfortunately, I did not have to wait very long for an explanation.

Boo's chi suddenly rose. At first, I thought that he was going to attack something, but that thought proved to be incorrect. It is hard to explain, but it felt like that chi somehow split. Usually, the separated chi would begin to dissipate after a moment, but this did not. Instead, it seemed to be self-emanating.

"I don't understand… Why does it feel like there are two Boos?" my voice definitely showed my confusion.

"It… It somehow managed to split itself into two forms…!" Piccolo told me. He was clearly concerned.

I did not respond to this statement as I just tried to understand the new development. How in the world was it possible to spilt one's self into two separate entities? Not only that, there was a very distinct difference in how their chi felt. The one was nothing but pure evil, but the other one was clean, so to speak.

Did Boo split itself between its dark and light halves? The only time I had ever heard something like that happen was when Piccolo and Kami became two separate entities. It was so puzzling, especially because I did not think that Boo even knew the distinction between the two.

The dark half then seemed to go on a rampage before it decided to turn on the light half. It was clear that this was not going to end well. "Piccolo… I'm going to go wake the boys," I told him as I began to turn. "Call it a hunch, but I think that we're going to need them shortly." He agreed and I sprinted to where the boys were sleeping.

Even though I really wanted to go as fast as possible, there was no way that I could alarm everyone more than they already were. Although, as I passed, I nodded to Kuririn and Yamcha, to let them know that what they were sensing was true and a danger.

As soon as I actually got inside the palace, I flew up the stairs to the boys' room and immediately began to attempt to wake them. It was not easy, as neither of them decided that they wanted to be responsive to normal methods.

As I began to yell, I could sense the dark half taking the upper hand in the fight between the two halves. "Goten, GET YOUR ASS UP!" I roared at my younger brother as I pulled the futon out from under him and Trunks. I did not mean to curse at him, but I had absolutely no patients for this.

Both my brother and Trunks looked at me rather blankly as glared at them. "Nee-chan… what's wrong…?" Goten asked with a sleepy yawn.

That set me off, but before I could even say anything, something that felt like an explosion of chi rocked the building. The dark half of Boo had apparently won and had somehow managed to absorb the strength of the other one. The result was a power that was so much more intense than what we had felt before.

"W-what was that?" Trunks' look was nothing short of a fearful bewilderment.

Again, there was no time for me to answer as the thing that was now Boo began to move. At first, it appeared to go after something on earth, but it suddenly changed directions. It was coming towards us! "We have to move!" I shouted as I hurried to a window near the front of the palace. The boys followed me.

"…!" There was a collective gasp from me and the boys when we got to the window. Boo had just landed on the platform. Its power was even more intense than I had thought it was. Not only that, but its form was different than before. It was no longer chubby and childish; now it was lean and stern. It was clear that it was now built for fighting.

A wave of terror washed over me. Before, we at least had a chance with Gotenks, now… this thing out-classed everything.

…

What is this new form that Boo has taken? Is it really as powerful as Goshi believes? And if so, can anyone stop it? Find out on the next heart-stopping episode of Dragonballz!


	37. Extinction

Boo just stared at Piccolo for a moment before it shouted "BRING!" in a voice so loud that I was certain that they might be able to hear it on the world below. No one really had an idea of what it meant, and I was quite sure that Piccolo asked him to explain it better, even if I could not hear him.

I honestly wished that Piccolo's voice would carry to where we were, but there was no way that I was going to risk moving closer. The reason was that I had a hold on each of the boys, since I was worried that they might recklessly charge the monster. Yet, what was said nearly made me charge it myself!

"Please!" Piccolo shouted. "They'll be awake soon! You wanted to kill everyone on earth, yes? You've left quite a number alive! You'll have your fight **after** you kill them all!"

"H-he's not serious…?" I asked no one in particular as I felt a shiver run up my spine. I then let go of the boys and sank to the ground. In a way, I was admitting defeat. If you cannot protect the people who are placed in your care, when the enemy is vanquished, can you really say that you've won?

I then noticed movement. Upon looking up, I saw that the boys were beginning to climb the railing. "Don't you _dare_ go out there," I hissed at them.

"But… Nee-chan… Boo's just walking around out there…" Goten told me.

I glared at him as I grabbed both him and Trunks again. "Let go of me!" the little prince growled.

"Until we get some sort of confirmation of a plan, I'm not going to let the two of you go out and get yourselves killed. Although I don't want to admit it, the two of you are the only hope we have right now… and if one of you gets killed, than it's all over."

I then looked back over the railing and noticed that Piccolo was looking at us. A nod of his head told me that he wanted us to stay where we were, as Boo came back into view. It was still walking at a leisurely pace while looking over the side of the platform. Once it moved back to where it had apparently started, it stopped and held its hand over its head.

A sudden swell of chi burst forth in the form of thousands, perhaps millions, of blasts that all arched up before falling towards the earth. It was over quickly, and the emptiness that followed was overwhelming. Everyone on earth had been killed with that blast. Everyone!

Boo seemed proud and said something else to Piccolo. I have no idea what Piccolo said to it, but it must have caught that thing's interest as he brought out a large hourglass. Something else was said, and it looked like Boo was going to attack again, but after Piccolo pointed at something behind him, Boo just sat down and stared at the hourglass.

Once that was settled, Piccolo quickly joined us from our vantage point. "Now, get yourselves into the Room of Spirit and Time," he told the boys. "For every minute you will experience six hours, so…"

It was at that time when we noticed someone walking over towards Boo. It was Mother. I could just tell that she was going to go over and yell at it. Without even a second thought, I jumped over the railing and got to her just as she slapped it. Boo had just enough time to look at her before I grabbed her and whisked her back to where the boys were standing.

Once I set her down, she had just begun to yell at me for interfering before I grabbed arm and got into her face. "WHAT POSSESSED YOU TO EVEN THINK OF SOMETHING LIKE THAT?" I was so angry at her that I was having trouble trying to find the words. "HE COULD HAVE KILLED YOU!"

Mother ripped her arm out of my grasp and glared right back. "THAT THING KILLED GOHAN-CHAN! DID YOU FORGET THAT!"

"DID _**YOU**_ FORGET THAT TWO OF YOUR CHILDREN ARE STILL ALIVE? DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW WE WOULD FEEL IF WE WOULD HAVE WATCHED YOU DIE?"

Some of the anger rushed out of her face as some of what I said got through to her. "Wh-what…?"

I sighed before I spoke again. "Kaa-san, I know that you're upset, but have some consideration for, at least, Goten. You have no idea what it's like to watch someone you love get killed."

Mother finally seemed to understand. She turned to her youngest son and scooped him into her arms before she apologized. Before she let him go, surprisingly, she wished him good luck on his training. She then let Piccolo lead him and Trunks away for training.

"Goshi-chan…" she said after a few moments of silence, "thanks. I don't… I don't know what got into me."

I just shrugged. "It's not a problem."

"You know, it sounded like you were speaking from experience."

I looked back over the railing towards Boo before I spoke again. I was curious as to whether or not Boo recognized me. "I was." I could tell that she wanted to know when even before she said anything. "The Cell Games."

"Oh…" Mother then put her hand on my shoulder before she walked away. It took me a little, but I eventually followed.

…

Unlike the rest of us, Piccolo decided to wait outside of the palace. For whatever reason, even though it was just an illusion, the majority of us just felt safer inside. As we waited, Videl had decided to ask around to see if she could figure out why Boo seemed to know her dad. Since most of us did not have any idea, she actually went outside to ask Piccolo.

It did not seem like they had spoken for very long when Boo managed to get agitated again. "**NO MORE WAITING!**"it shouted as it stood up and destroyed the hourglass. Piccolo tried to reason with it, but just to show how tired of waiting it was, it shot a hole through the platform right in front of Piccolo. "_**COME OUT! I KILL YOU!**_"

Piccolo gave in and told the monster to follow him. "Hey… Is Piccolo gonna have Boo fight them **inside** the Room of Spirit an' Time?" Kuririn asked shortly after the two of them passed us. That had to have been the case as they continued to walk deeper into the palace (we had decided to follow them from a distance).

Something was bothering me, though. Since I had been to the room before, I knew that it did not take nearly as long to reach that room. Fortunately, I did not have to wait long for an explanation.

"I can't believe he's gonna let 'im into the Room of Spirit and Time," Kuririn said again in disbelief.

"Think," Dende told him. "The Room is in a different dimension. Even if Trunks and Goten lose, Piccolo will be able to destroy the entrance… and trap Boo on the other side."

"What?" Bulma shrieked. "Th-then what about Trunks-san and Goten-kun?"

"Don't worry. The dragon balls can restore them to life."

"Yes, yes… It's a bold plan he's got…" Roshi concluded.

"…But… Isn't he taking the long way?" Yamcha asked.

"He's buyin' as much time as he can…" Kuririn explained. "Piccolo said one minute here is six hours in there…"

That explained it. Piccolo wanted to give the boys a chance for some last minute training and a little bit of a rest before the battle began.

As they neared the door, the conversation between us died away. It seemed like most of us held our breaths as they entered the Room. When the door finally closed and their chi was no long able to be sensed, we gradually walked back towards the entrance.

…

It could not have been more than a couple minutes later when it felt like there was an explosion of chi from outside the palace. All of us ran outside to see what it was, and at first, the only thing we saw was a strange question mark-looking thing was floating above us. The realization hit us only a moment later when it fell to the ground; it was Boo.

After a moment, it reformed itself and looked hungrily at us. "RUN!" I shouted as I began to move towards it.

"But… you don't stand a chance!" someone, I think Yamcha, yelled after me.

"I'm just going to try and buy time!" I then leveled up to the ascended level and charged the monster. It was not even phased as my kick connected. "Y-you've got to be kidding!"

It gave me an agitated glare as I moved away from it. "Thought I you dead…" it told me darkly.

I smiled weakly. "I got lucky."

"Pest… Will finish first…" It then came at me so quickly that I did not even have time to react. It was so much faster than it was before, and it sent me flying with a simple punch. The power behind it was so great that I could not correct myself before the blast hit me.

It was a direct hit and powerful. And, once again, I was not able to recover from it. "Pathetic…" I told myself as I fell. There was no feeling in my body, and even though I was willing myself to move, I felt no response.

I felt myself revert to my normal state as I continued to fall towards the ground. I heard someone scream my name just before another blast came towards me. The last thing I saw was the attack's odd hot pink glow.

…

"Hey...! Stay in line!" I heard some unknown person shout as I came to. I had the strangest feeling too. Even though I was not in pain, I definitely had the sensation that I had been hit by a train. Not only that, I was very disoriented. Looking around did not help either. If I had not known any better, I would have said that I was high; this place was that strange.

I was standing on some sort of road that was suspended in an air that was filled with vivid yellow clouds, which somewhat reminded me of Kinto'un. There were also little, self-moving, white cloud-looking things all over the place, and the majority of them seemed to be heading towards a large castle, that was, without a doubt, the largest thing that I had ever seen.

It was then that I decided that I needed to try to understand my situation. I had been tossed around like a doll by Boo before everything went blank… and then it hit me, I had died.

I sighed and ran my hand through my hair, which surprised me. I looked down and noticed that I was all in one piece, which told me that I had been allowed to keep my body, like my dad. Then, out of a strange peevishness, I reached above my head and touched something. Yep, I had a halo. It was official; I was definitely dead.

"Did you hear what I said!" a voice said from behind me which caused me to jump. "You need to stay in line!" I turned to see a person, well, ogre was the better word, wearing a suit staring at me.

"Ah… yeah… sorry about that…." I said as I unconsciously did one of my family's characteristic motions. "I needed to figure out where I was."

"Well, you're dead. There's nothing all that complicated about it, now MOVE!" He then started shoving me from behind. He then stopped suddenly as I tried to convince him I could move on my own and asked, "Wait a second… You wouldn't be related to that Saiyan… um… Now what was his name again? You look quite a bit like him."

I just sighed. That was the last thing that I wanted to hear today. "I'm not too sure I know who you mean," I said as calmly as possible, while trying to hide the fact that I was both lying and irritated. "But before that you were telling me what I needed to do…"

"Right," the ogre replied in a somewhat offended tone. He still seemed to be trying to remember my father's name. "Just follow the line. That will take you to Enma-o (1), who will judge where your soul's supposed to go."

"Err… thanks." That began the seemingly endless wait to go into the castle.

…

It was rather strange to wait. There was really no true sense of time, so I had no idea if I had been waiting for minutes or days. I vaguely remembered Dad saying something along the lines of months equaling many years in the otherworld, which caused me to start thinking of how to compare it.

It was a welcome distraction from the boredom of waiting, especially because my mind kept going back to how the boys were doing. I had no idea if they were alive or not. The others were definitely not, seeing as I could both sense and hear some of them (I had no idea where they were though, since I was practically in the palace by that time). Boo was alive; I could tell that from his chi that I could vaguely sense through what felt like a filter.

The pondering continued until I was called into an extremely large room. Until that point, I thought that I could handle any this place could throw at me, but I was wrong. In the center of the room was a large desk, and behind it was the largest being I had ever seen. I was definitely insignificant compared to him, and it bothered me.

"Let me guess," the giant said after giving me a glance before opening one of the many books in front of him, "You're Son Goku's daughter."

"Err… yes, sir," I said as calmly as possible, which was difficult as it felt like he was looming over me, which was unnerving.

After jotting down something in one of his books, he turned back towards me. "As expected from someone related to Son Goku, your deeds are wondrous and brought you here with your body intact. Under normal circumstances, this would allow you to pass on to the upper realms, but…"

"'Normal circumstances'…?" I repeated hesitantly.

"Yes. With Boo still running around down on earth, the entire universe is in danger, and there are not all that many people who could do something about it. It is because of this, I want you to be on standby, so to speak, just in case."

That was a major surprise to me. I had never heard anything like that before. "I mean no disrespect sir, but even if you are able to send me back, I don't think that I would be able to do much."

"I understand, but the situation is that desperate."

I agreed and said nothing else as I was lead into what looked to be a sitting room of sorts. The ogres were nice enough to bring me something to eat while I waited, which surprised me a little. Why would a dead person need to eat? But, then I reminded myself that Dad eat just as much as he did while he was alive just before the main part of the tournament, and that put my reservations aside.

I guess it was a little while later when I heard a familiar voice. I went over to the door and peaked out. Enma-o was apparently passing judgment on Kuririn. He was allowed to pass on to the upper world and was lead away. After him, the others who were at Kami's palace came forth to be judged.

I was rather surprised as I watched though. Not all of the people I cared about were given the same treatment. It appeared that only those of us who had fought in the past were allowed to keep their bodies, everyone else, including my mother, were sent to another area where their souls would be eventually reincarnated.

It was incredibly sobering for me. I knew of reincarnation, but I had always thought that we would at least get to see each other again when we passed on. What a lonely existence death was going to be.

…

There was nothing to do, other than pace the room and think, while I waited for any word as to what I was going to do. This was the type of circumstance that I hated, since I am one of those people who tend to brood. I was quite thankful when someone finally came to get me.

"I'm glad I had kept your spirit intact, just in case… and gave you a body." I heard Enma-o say to someone as I was being lead back into the judging room. "I really don't like this, but please take him to earth too… and hurry."

"If I must…" a woman's voice replied. It was vaguely familiar, but I was not able to place it.

"Resorting to a thug like me, eh? I wish I could promise that I'll even live up to your faintest hopes…" This voice was different as well, but I recognized it immediately.

"Vegeta!" I called out in a surprised voice as everyone finally came into sight. I noticed that Baba was also in the room. I guess she was how we were going to get to earth.

"Well, you're here too," He seemed to be amused for some reason, which caused me to glare at him. "What? Still irritated?"

"Not at you…" I replied as looked up at Enma-o.

"Good," the large man said, and I had no clue to whom he was replying. "Everything is in order for your departure. I wish you luck."

Neither myself nor Vegeta gave a reply. This apparently was a cue to Baba that we were ready to leave, and the scene in front of us disappeared.

Whatever technique Baba used felt an awful lot like Dad's teleportation technique, but I really did not have time to ponder it as we were back on earth in what appeared to be an instant.

We had arrived in a very desolate area, and it completely matched the feeling I received. There was no sense of life anywhere, except for the chi that belonged to Boo and another one that was very close to it. But the strange thing was that chi did not belong to anyone that I would have assumed was alive. It was Dad's.

…

What turn of events is this? Goku's back on earth! And what happened to the others? And what about Boo, has its hour of death finally come? Find out next time on the next heart-stopping episode of Dragonballz!

* * *

1 Enma-o is King Enma/Yamma. The –o is occasionally used as a suffix for king


	38. Semblance of Hope

There was no way that Dad could be back on earth. He was dead, and the only day that he was able to come back to earth, he had already used. So, it really made no sense as to why I could sense him.

The answer came not even seconds later. Dad just appeared in front of us. He was clearly happy and his halo was gone. He somehow had managed to come back to life. "VEGETA…! YEAH! IT **IS** YOU!" he shouted as he ignored me.

"Ka… Kakarrot…?" Vegeta replied. He was definitely as confused as I was.

"G-Goku…!" Baba stammered. "…Am I seeing things? H-how can you be…? But… I don't understand… You've come back to life and…"

"Talk later!" Dad warned her. "You get out of here! Boo's comin' fast!" Baba took his advice immediately and was gone in the blink of an eye. Dad then turned towards Vegeta and was about to say something until he noticed me. His face fell and the expression of what appeared to be regret came into his face.

"Goshi…" it was the only word that he was able to articulate to me before my rage resurfaced.

"How dare you?" I hissed at him from between my teeth. "HOW DARE YOU COME BACK HERE?" There was a slight and tense pause before I continued. "**You could have stopped this thing earlier, but instead, you gave that responsibility to two young children with almost no real experience. They failed. This planet is dead. And now that there is nothing left to protect, you come back? No, it's not that you come back; it's that you came back alive, that infuriates me. You refused to be brought back seven years ago, causing your family an untold amount of grief. So what changed?" **I spat almost every word at him, and a forceful rage was clearly noticeable in my voice.I then grabbed his gi. "**ANSWER ME! WHAT THE FUCK CHANGED?**"

There was so much more that I want to shout, but before I could continue, Vegeta pulled me away from my stunned father. "Save your rage for Boo," he told me in a low voice.

It was not enough to pacify me, but Dad did apologize and repeat the fact that Boo was on his way. He then turned back to Vegeta and held out what appeared to be an earring. "Vegeta! Put this potara earring on your right ear! PLEASE!"

"…Why…?"

"So we can combine! We'll be unbeatable!"

I shorted. That entire concept was laughable. Assuming that those earrings would initiate some form of the fusion, there was no way that Vegeta would agree to that.

"Combine…? You actually think I'd combine with you…?" Vegeta's voice was definitely amused. He probably thought that my father was foolish for even thinking about something like that.

Dad was definitely shocked when he heard that (for the life of me, I cannot believe that he would think that it would be that easy), and seemed to get childishly angry. I mean, he even had an almost exact match of Goten's irritated expression on his face. "Arrgh! I knew you'd say that! But it's the only way to beat Boo!"

"In that case…" Vegeta's voice grew serious, "I'd rather die."

"H-he's getting close!" Dad shouted. "Please, Vegeta! You've gotta put it on! This is no time for pride! This is doomsday!"

I was trying hard not to give that sardonic laugh again. Doomsday had already come; Boo had seen to that. There was no hope left.

"…I hate you for it…" Vegeta spat in a low voice which surprised both me and my father. "**When you fought me–you hid your true strength!**" he shouted. "**Were you manipulating me–or mocking me? I saw it all in the afterlife! 'SUPER SAIYAN THREE'? You turn my stomach! You think I want to be ONE with you?**"

"So much for 'saving your rage for Boo'," I told him. He glared at me.

"…I-I'm sorry." Dad's head was hung in shame. "There was a limit to how long I could transform… I had to save it for later, just in case…"

"Don't make excuses," Vegeta warned him. "The facts don't change. You mocked me…"

Then it was Dad's turn to get angry. "HOW ABOUT **THIS** FACT? BOO ATE EVERYBODY ELSE–EVEN BULMA! PICCOLO, GOHAN, GOTEN–AND **TRUNKS**–HE ABSORBED THEM ALL! THAT'S HOW HE SUDDENLY GOT STRONGER!**"**

Although it was completely true, Dad's words stung. If I was stronger I could have stopped that from happening. I was stopped from contemplating my thoughts when I heard laughing. Looking up, I saw Boo speeding towards us.

He looked much different than he had when I had last laid eyes on him. He was also much stronger. Without really even thinking about it, I transformed. There was no way that it was going to help, but it was better than nothing.

At that same moment, Dad had once again asked Vegeta to put on that earring. This time, he actually agreed. After being given it, Vegeta swore as he tried to get it on. "…Right ear was it…?"

Dad did not answer as Boo distracted us as it started to form an attack. "I should warn you…" Dad then stated. "Once we mix, we can never split apart!"

"WHAT?" Vegeta demanded. "Oh, fine. Tell me **now…?**" He then finally got the earring on. "**THERE. HAPPY?**"

"**THANKS, VEGETA!**" Dad stated as the two of them seemed to be pulled towards each other. Right before they were going to hit, there was a flash of light and a huge surge of chi.

When the light faded, both Boo and I were staring at a foreign warrior who was in the same spot where Dad and Vegeta had been a moment before. "**HELLO… BOO!**" the warrior stated as he took a fighting stance. His voice was a strange combination of Dad and Vegeta's; it was almost like the two of them were speaking at the same time. His clothes and hair was also a combination of his two… err… components.

"Vegeta and Kakarrot combined… I guess that makes us… **Vegerot? (**1**)**" He then looked back at me. "What do you think?"

"…I think that I'm still trying to process what just happened and the words 'never split apart'." I then pointed to a spot behind me while wearing a fake smile, since I was still a _little_ angry at my father. "I'm gonna get out of your way and wait over there."

As I moved, I heard him chuckle. He then began to contemplate again. "Or maybe… I'm **SUPER** VEGEROT!" he shouted as he transformed. His chi was beyond overpowering. It was the first thing since this entire war started that actually gave some semblance of hope.

"OH MY…" Boo stated in an amused voice as he threw his attack at the new warrior. "I'M SO AFRAID!" Dad… I mean… Vegerot… was not impressed and did not move an inch until it was only about a meter away from him. He then knocked it back towards Boo, much to its surprise.

"That's all…?" Boo asked. "You bounced back one strike? **FOOL!**" Boo then charged him. "**YOU'LL NEVER-**" it was cut off in mid-sentence by a powerful kick to the mouth.

"'Never' what?" Vegerot asked playfully. "Your nose is bleeding. You were better off when you didn't have one."

I began to grow irritated again as I heard the arrogance in his voice. Part of the reason why the situation is so bad is because of arrogant personalities. I wanted to slap him, but at least he was able to fight and hold his own. I would have to save that for later.

Boo had begun to get angry at Vegerot, which made me think that his personality could just be an act (or not). "The more you make me angry… the more you'll suffer before you die." It warned him.

Vegerot's reply was a sharp jab to its mouth, which knocked it back. He then grabbed its leg and used it as a lever to throw it into the ground. The dust and debris had not yet settled before he sent a beam of energy into the rubble.

Now that I think about it, that energy was much more like a blade, which is a very strange way to think of it. Although, it is accurate as he used that blade to pull a very battered Boo out from the rubble. "Well?" he asked once he had brought the blade to an almost horizontal level. "Not so talkative now, are you? I thought this would be more exciting. I want to fight you for **real**." His words seemed to anger it more. "…Or **was** this for real? Then I'm sorry. I didn't mean to be rude."

Boo then slipped off the blade and reformed. Steam (or what appeared to be steam) erupted from every pore, causing both it and Vegerot to be surrounded by it. Boo then laughed demonically. "You can't see me!" He was answered by several punches by Vegerot, which all hit. Boo was definitely taken back.

"The trick is to feel the movement of chi," Vegerot explained as the steam faded away. His odd-sounding voice carried well through the sky. "You can't keep up with me because you try to follow with your eyes." How strange; wasn't that the exact opposite of the advice that I had given to the boys?

Oh, there is something that I had forgotten to mention; during the fight within the steam, Vegerot somehow managed to tear Boo's antenna off of his head. He then destroyed, just to prove his point or to demonstrate some of his strength.

"I'll do that to the rest of you later," he promised it. "You can't regenerate if you're disintegrated."

"You trash…!" Boo hissed after it regrew its missing body part. "It… it wasn't…"

"'It wasn't supposed to be this way?' Don't feel too bad. I'm surprised myself… that you were so helpless."

"If you do something stupid…" I then hissed. My rage had begun to boil again. This moron… jerk… ass hole… whatever you wanted to call him, was provoking it. This was going to turn into a repeat of what happened with the boys.

"You're… laughing at me…?" Boo replied, in a rage that was worse than my own. "Then laugh at **this**…!" It then spit out several gooey white things, which turned into mini white Boos that were able to speak. "**SUPER GHOST KAMIKAZE ATTACK!"**

"Oh yeah…" Vegerot said, without much concern. "Gotenks' move."

"So you recognize it! Then you know its power! Touch them and they explode! **GO!**" The mini Boos then flew after Vegerot, who flew to the side, launched an attack, and destroyed them.

"You thought that would work?" Vegerot asked him. "**Kids** came up with that idea. You're getting desperate."

"Oh, really?" Boo asked, as a smirk appeared on its face.

I was confused by what it meant until a weird giggle sounded from behind me. I turned and was startled to see a few of the mini Boos behind me. When and how did they get there? I had not sensed them! I had no time to really think of an answer before they lunged towards me. "Shit…. Shit…. SHIT!" I cursed as I flew backwards away from them.

They were faster than me, which was a problem, since they were quickly catching up. Really, my only choice was to attempt to destroy them like Vegerot did, but in my case, they were probably just going to dodge them. It then occurred to me that there was another option. There was a chance that I could create an explosive barrier, like I had seen my sensei do, at least once. Well, even though I had never done it before, I had nothing to lose and no other choices.

Well, I attempted to explode my energy outward, but it worked more like a shockwave. It did do the trick though. Relief just washed over me as I watched the smoke of the explosions dissipate. That relief disappeared even faster once I felt something touch my arm. I spun around to see Boo there, with that strange hungry smile and its body reaching out towards me.

"You have some good techniques…" it told me as I tried to pull away. "I should have done this earlier."

This was definitely looking bad as I could not get free, but I was saved by Vegerot who knocked it away with a sharp kick. "Are you alright?" he asked without looking at me.

"Yeah…" I replied while pulling a few disgusting remnants of Boo off of me. "…Thanks…"

He then turned and glared at me. "Now, get to cover. You're in the way."

That statement both hurt and angered me, but there was no way I was going to argue with him at the moment, since he was technically right and Boo was still not dead. I reluctantly backed away as an angry Boo returned to face Vegerot. "You fool…" it hissed at him. "How dare you interfere!"

It then lunged at him while screaming, "It's unfair! There are two of you!" Boo then attempted to punch him, but he easily blocked it with his foot.

"Unfair?" he asked in an incredulous voice while continuing to block Boo's attacks. "Who's the one who kept absorbing people? Is that all you can do? I don't even have to use my arms!" Eventually, Vegerot grew tired blocking and kicked it in the face. He then put his hands on his hips. "Want me to lay it out for you? You can't beat me, no matter what you do."

Boo then said or asked Vegerot something. The tone was too low for me to hear it correctly, but it definitely took Vegerot by surprise. Boo then used its antenna to zap him, which managed to turn him into a candy. As Boo began to yell in triumph, I could not really grasp what I had just seen.

Although, I had watched Boo do that once before, via Bobbidi, it is nothing compared to seeing it in person. Vegerot was smarter than that! He should not have been… It was definitely too much. Then, something else something that further blew my mind.

The hand that held the candy that was Vegerot punched it square in the face. Boo left it go in surprise, and not only did it float, it spoke. There was just no way that I could wrap my mind around what I was seeing, especially when that candy was beating the crap out of Boo. Really, my only thought process was that I was going to need therapy after this was said and done.

Boo seemed to be frustrated with candy-Vegerot as it actually turned him back to normal. He seemed surprised, but happy, at that development. He then warned Boo that he was going to count to ten before he destroyed it. The countdown then began.

It was clear that Boo was thinking about what to do and, unfortunately, figured something out. Right before Vegerot was finished counting, Boo somehow managed to get a piece of it to fly behind Vegerot. It then captured him, and Boo absorbed him.

Boo happily celebrated its victory, and I just stared in shock. Vegerot had shown that this thing could be defeated, but failed, just like everyone else. All hope was gone. Yet… something did not seem right. As I watched Boo, I noted that its chi had not changed, which I thought was somewhat strange. Shouldn't there have been some sort of change? I mean, he just absorbed the most powerful guy/being I had ever encountered.

Boo seemed to notice that too, for a moment, but it did not phase it as it went back to celebrating. It took some time before that thing decided that it was time to do something more productive. It grinned at me before it stretched its hand out towards earth. It was going to destroy it!

I immediately sent a large blast its way, hoping that it would be enough to at least make it turn its attention away from the planet. "Did you really think that would work?" it asked me while wearing that hungry look from earlier. "If you want to die, again, that badly, I'll be happy to help. Or, should I be merciful and let you be with your family… inside me!"

It was going to charge me again, but suddenly stopped when its chi dropped and Piccolo's weighted cape appeared on its shoulders. That was definitely not what was expected. Then, just as suddenly, it reverted back to the form it was when it had appeared at Kami's palace. There was really no explanation for it.

Boo, however, seemed to know what was wrong. It turned its back on me, seeing as I really was not much of a threat for it, and flew to a cliff. It just stayed there, not moving. I watched it carefully, seeing as its actions were unusual.

Around that time, I noticed two small chis approaching. Dende and, surprisingly, Mr. Satan had arrived. Great, now there was another thing to watch. I had to make sure that they did not do anything stupid.

I was distracted from the new arrivals when Boo suddenly lurched forward, as if it was in pain. It then yelled, and while it did so, Dad, Vegeta, the boys, Gohan, and Piccolo suddenly appeared out of nowhere. I immediately flew over so that I could check on my brothers, who did not appear to be moving. I also made a mental note to ask Dad and Vegeta as to why they were two different people again. Things were not making sense again.

As Dad and Vegeta turned their attentions back towards Boo, who was still yelling, I began trying to wake up my brothers. They were completely out cold. By the time that I had given up yelling at them and had started to slap Gohan across the face, Boo's chi and size had begun to grow. It then shrunk, but its chi increased again. It, oddly enough, looked like of like a little kid. It scared me.

"Gohan!" I shouted as I began to shake my brother, "Wake up! This is not the time for a nap!"

Dad and Vegeta seemed to not notice Boo's chi increase and mentioned something about being able to defeat it. They were crazy, but there was really no time to shout at them. Boo suddenly shouted and stretched its hand towards earth. Its attack was insanely fast and strong. Vegeta was barely able to deflect it in time, which alerted Boo to our presence.

Both Vegeta and my dad attempted to talk/yell to it to make it fight them, but it did not seem to be able to comprehend them. Or, it did not want to.

Scared, I head butted my brother, which surprisingly woke him up. "OW!" both of us stated almost immediately. Yeah, both of us had inherited our father's hard head.

"Why'd you do that?" he demanded of me almost immediately after the initial shock was over.

"No time to explain," as I pointed to a laughing Boo that had created a huge ball of energy above its head. "Grab Piccolo, and I'll get the boys. We've got to move!' Practically as soon as we had done so, Boo launched its attack.

We flew as fast as we could to get to Dad, who had managed to grab Dende and Mr. Satan. He was the only one who could get us off of the exploding planet. Dad was concentrating so hard that he did not notice us until we yelled at him. We just had time to grab hold of him when someone who looked somewhat like the Lord of Lords appeared. As soon as Dad grabbed his hand, the scene in front of us disappeared and so did the earth, our home.

…

Boo has finally succeeded in destroying the earth. What is this new form? And is there any way that our heroes can stop it? Find out as the fight reaches its climax in the next episode of Dragonballz!

* * *

1 Manga version of his name. In the anime (even in the Japanese one), his name is Vegetto. I don't have the slightest idea as to why the names are so different. I have never heard any explanation.


	39. Victory

Once the scene reappeared, everyone let go and tumbled onto grassy ground. I sat up as I rubbed my head. I had no idea where we were, but at least everyone else, even the boys, who had finally woken up, were alright. It was somewhat of a relief.

"NEE-CHAN!" Goten shouted right before he knocked me over with a hug. He had not even given me a chance to stand. "YOU'RE ALRIGHT!" He began to sniff a bit as he buried his head into my shoulder, in an attempt to hide tears.

I ruffled his hair, in much the same way my Sensei had done for me when I was upset. It had the effect I wanted, as my youngest brother just looked up at me with this loving grin on his face. It was actually painful to see that look. He had no idea that I had died, and I had no idea how I was going to break it to him without making him cry. Thankfully, a distraction came so that I could put that off for a bit.

"OH… HOORAY! YOU MADE IT…!" some old guy shouted, rather suddenly, which caught all of our attentions.

"Old Kai…" Gohan said in a surprised voice. He then stood up and looked around. "Then… that means that we're in the upper realm…"

"So… we're in h-heaven?" Hercule asked. We just ignored him. Well, actually, Vegeta glared at him first before that happened.

"What happened to earth…?" the person who looked like the Lord of Lords asked after looking at what appeared to be a crystal ball.

"…It's gone…" the old man replied. "…Blown to bits…"

"The earth… destroyed…?" Hercule asked in a voice full of shaken disbelief. He then chuckled. "Where are we, then? Senile old coot…"

Dende then chided him for being rude and attempted to explain who he was and where we were. He did not buy it and said something else insulting. He then stated that everything he had seen was a dream, which would mean that he would be able to fly. We just watched as he shouted something else stupid at the top of a small cliff, jumped off it, fell on his face, and started complaining. I do not think that anything else had ever made me laugh that hard.

Before I had finished being amused, Vegeta had started yelling at Dad about the state of the earth. Saying something about our only hope, the dragon balls, being completely destroyed (you miss things when you are that amused). And that caught the attention of the old man.

"What? Dragon balls? Why are there dragon balls on earth? Only Namekians are supposed to have them! They're like… cosmic cheat codes!" he shouted.

"**OH! THAT'S IT!**" Dende's voice was even louder. "**GO TO PLANET NAMEK! SURELY THE ELDER WILL HAVE MADE MORE DRAGON BALLS! THE EARTH AND ALL THOSE KILLED CAN STILL BE RESURRECTED!**"

There was some enthusiastic agreement with that plan, until Dad explained that he probably would not be able to take him there with his transportation ability. That's when the pseudo-Lord of Lords stated that he would be able to do it. There was a mini celebration after that until the old man got irritated.

"No! You mustn't use the dragon balls! They hurl the cosmic order into chaos! Long ago, I warned the Namekians to use them only on their planet!" he shouted. "They never interfered in other planets' fates!"

Then Dad whispered something to that old man about some interesting pictures, in an attempt to change his mind. While I asked Gohan if he understood what was happening, Vegeta demanded if it was his wife that was the subject of them. Dad's expression was that of a kid getting caught red-handed, which caused Vegeta to start to yell. "Hey boys, there **are** children over here…" I called out in an attempt to prevent anything other potentially awkward/scarring statements to be made. Thankfully, Goten and Trunks were a bit too confused to get it.

Before anyone else could say anything on that line of thought, the pseudo-Lord of Lords drew our attention back to Boo. It had begun to regenerate.

"Give them your potara!" the old man shouted. "They can combine again!"

"What…? Combine…?" Gohan asked, giving me a questioning look as those earrings were thrown to Dad and Vegeta. I just waved my hand to let him know that I would explain later, if there was a later.

Dad looked at the earring for a moment. "…No thanks," he replied. "We'll do without 'em." That really surprised the Kais. "…Sorry… It's not our style… We like to rely on ourselves. Boo's on his own now, too."

"You fool!" the old guy shouted. "Who cares about that **now**? This isn't a tournament match!"

Vegeta destroyed his earring in response. "…Well said, Kakarrot. Spoken… like a true Saiyan." His words were surprising to me. I do not think that I had ever heard Vegeta willingly call my dad a Saiyan. For the longest time, it seemed like he was trying to deny that fact.

"Don't worry," Dad said after the old guy and the pseudo-Lord of Lords gave alarmed looks. "We'll think of a plan. He can't come here… And if he blows up other planets, the dragon balls can bring them back."

"Y-you've got to be kidding me…" I said faintly as I finally stood up. My irritation at my dad had begun to kick in again. "How can you think like that! HAVEN'T ENOUGH PEOPLE DIED!" While I yelled, Gohan had grabbed my arm, I think to make sure that I did not try to hit him.

Dad did not even get a chance to defend his words. Boo, just appeared out of thin air. "B-but how…?" Piccolo demanded as anyone with Saiyan blood got into a defensive stance.

"He saw the Lord of Lords teleport…!" Dad explained. "And he learned it instantly…!"

Vegeta seemed to be pleased about this as Dad instructed the pseudo-Lord of Lords to get to safety. "Take the boys with you," both Gohan and I told him after exchanging a quick look. We got a lot of surprised looks as well as complaints from the boys.

"Look! We don't have time to discuss this!" I snapped at them.

"If worse comes to worse, you'd be the only ones left," Gohan explained. "You need to stay safe!"

The boys definitely attempted to argue, but the pseudo-Lord of Lords managed to grab them before disappearing along with the old guy and Dende. Practically even before they had left, Dad and Vegeta had begun using roshambo (1) to decide who was going to fight Boo. Gohan wanted to get involved, but I held him back. Although he wanted me to explain my reasoning later, he did not fight me. That is the one good thing about having a sibling; occasionally, you can have a discussion with little to no words. We then, along with Piccolo, moved to a rock formation so we could watch. Vegeta joined us a little later after he lost to Dad.

Without even a moment's notice, Dad became a Super Saiyan three. I had felt his power before from a far, but nothing compared to being right there. It was beyond overpowering. Even Boo seemed affected, although I was not sure if that was from nerves or excitement.

After the fight began, I was pretty sure that it was the latter. Boo was giddy as it charged at Dad, who sent a Kamehameha at it. Once it hit, Dad charged and managed to get behind it just as it reformed. Although he sent it flying, it caught itself as if nothing happened. It then stuck its leg through the ground, which struck Dad as he followed. Dad then moved backwards in an attempt to dodge more of those attacks and managed to be surprised by a large chi blast. He got out of the way, just in time, via his teleportation and managed to hit Boo from behind again. Instead of allowing itself to get hit, Boo elbowed Dad in the face, which quickly turned into an exchange of punches.

"I-it's… incredible…!" my brother stammered as we watched. And, I had to agree with him. With every exchange, save for when Boo and Dad decided to bite each other, it became clear that this was the epitome of fighting.

Even Vegeta seemed affected. For a little, it almost seemed like he was mumbling to himself. He finally finished after he openly wished Dad good luck. Gohan and I exchanged looks with Piccolo. This was definitely not normal Vegeta behavior. This was not going to be mentioned to anyone unless someone needed to blackmail him, but who would be that stupid?

…

After an exchange of Kamehameha waves (that was somewhat scary), it became clear that the fight that had at first seemed evenly matched, was not. Boo's chi never seemed to decrease while Dad's did. We were not too clear if Vegeta had noticed this as well, but he did tell us to stay put and flew over to where Dad seemed to be contemplating something.

Vegeta then said something to Dad. Piccolo told us that he was asking if Dad had been holding back for him so that they could switch. Neither of us needed to have Piccolo to tell us that Dad had not been planning that, since Vegeta's priceless expression spoke volumes. Dad then mentioned something to him as Boo began doing some weird sort of taunting dance. I knew that when I looked back on it, it would make me laugh, but at this particular point in time, it was rather sickening.

"**THEN… I'LL BUY YOU THAT MINUTE. BUILD UP YOUR CHI!**" we heard Vegeta shout. That simple statement caused both my brother and I to ready ourselves for involvement. Apparently, Dad needed a little bit of time to concentrate his chi. Vegeta was going to attempt to distract Boo, but it seemed unlikely that he would be able to do that without help.

After Dad mentioned something else to him, Vegeta transformed and started blasting Boo. To be honest, it really did nothing other than stop Boo's dance and get it irritated. After it managed to sneak up on him, the punishment began.

When Boo started using its arm as a noose to strangle Vegeta, Gohan and I knew that it was time to interfere. We both rushed towards the creature. Gohan moved in its line of site, which caused it to throw Vegeta at him. While it was distracted with that, I moved it from the side and delivered the strongest kick I could must to the thing's head. Although it did succeed in knocking it into the ground, there was no sign of damage once it emerged from the rubble.

"K-KAKARROT…!" Vegeta yelled at my Dad. "HOW MUCH LONGER…?"

"I… I DON'T UNDERSTAND IT…" Dad stammered. That was a bad sign. "I GOT **CLOSE** TO FULL POWER… BUT I'M LOSING CHI AGAIN…!"

There was just a stunned silence between us as we let his words sink in. If Dad could not muster his full strength, then what were we going to do?

…

Boo stared at us for a moment. It was hard to tell if it was waiting for us to move, or if it was deciding who it was going to attack first. "Vegeta-san… try and think of something to defeat it…" I heard my brother mention to the Saiyan. He then looked over at me. "Hey, Nee-chan, do you think it's a good time for us to start working together?"

"I thought that's what we were doing," I called back to him with an amused voice, "But, if you think we can do better, than let's try it!"

"HAVE THE TWO OF YOU LOST YOUR MINDS!" Piccolo demanded as he flew over to where my brother was. "THAT THING WILL DESTROY YOU!"

"It'll do that anyways, even if we don't," I told him. The sudden confidence in my voice seemed to anger him more.

"We'll be fine," Gohan tried to reassure him. "We're just trying to buy time." Gohan then rushed Boo. "BACK ME UP, GOSHI!"

Boo, at first, did not seem to be all that worried by the two of us charging it, but that quickly changed. It was clear that it had really never fought multiple opponents at one time and was having some trouble trying to counteract our movements. Gohan and I had learned to fight like this during our time in the Chamber of Spirit and Time, since we often had to fight against Dad. Our teamwork, most likely do to our sibling bond, was remarkable in terms of time and position. We were also able to alternate between mirrored and individual styles to keep Boo guessing. Although we knew that this would not be able to stop it, we were doing well enough to distract it.

As we fought, Dad suddenly reverted back to his normal state. It distracted Gohan, who missed his time to make a decisive blow to Boo. It then used that moment to catch itself and go after me. I just managed to defend myself as it landed a blow to my stomach, which forced me backwards.

"Goshi…! Are you alright?" Gohan asked as he came over and grabbed my arm to steady me.

"I'd be fine if you hadn't gotten distracted," I spat at him after coughing. That blow, even though it was little more than a graze, had done some damage. Any more mistakes like that and it would be the end of either one or both of us. That thing had also begun to figure out how our style worked as it was getting more and more difficult to land a hit. We were not going to be able to keep it entertained for much longer.

"…**DENDE! GODS! YOU'RE WATCHING US, AREN'T YOU?**" Vegeta shouted, which caught everyone's attention. "**IF YOU CAN HEAR ME-ANSWER NOW!**"

A chi blast caught my brother and me by surprise. We had been too distracted by trying to hear the answer. Piccolo managed to deflect it just in time. "**JUST HOLD OUT A LITTLE LONGER!**" he shouted. "WE **HAVE A PLAN!**" I smiled as I got myself back into a fighting stance; I was going to have to thank that Namekian when I got the chance.

It was clear that there was some discussion between Vegeta, Dad, and Piccolo with whoever had answered, but we really could not concentrate on them long enough to hear what was being said. Boo had definitely figured us out. In a way, it was a good thing that Gohan had managed to stumble across that new strength of his, even though I really could not understand how he had gotten it. He was able to take the attacks that I would not be able to while I counterattacked with chi, which would then give him time to recover and/or attack.

During the middle of this, I noticed that something had felt different, but I really could not pay attention to it as Boo had decided to ignore his former pattern and go after me. This time, I did not have time to react as it connected a kick to my right arm and shattered the upper bone. It then grabbed the damaged arm and was about to attack again when I blasted its face, point blank with my good arm. That surprised it enough to allow my brother to catch it from behind.

We had only a few moments to catch our breaths. As we did, I attempted to move the fingers on my right arm. No response. That was not good. It was going to be much harder to defend myself, and on top of that, both my brother and I were exhausted.

During those few precious moments, we noticed that Dad was starting to form some sort of attack. "…The Genki-Dama…?" (2) Gohan stammered with a faint recognition. My eyes widened at the name. I had heard of the attack. Dad had used it against Freeza and Vegeta during their prospective battles. The power that it could have was legendary.

We did not get much of a chance to track the process of the attack as Boo came at us again. All we could tell was that people were talking, and it really did not make much sense at the time how that was going to help us kill this unstoppable thing!

Then, when things were really looking bad for me and Gohan, Vegeta came into the fight. I do not think that I had ever been that happy to see him. Yet, even though his presence should have helped, it just felt like the fight had managed to get even more hopeless. Boo, by this time, knew all of our styles and easily adapted to the added person.

Boo was about to attempt to end the fight with a colossal chi blast, but was distracted when the Genki-Dama suddenly exploded in size. "**OH! IT'S HERE!**" Dad shouted. "**GET OUT OF THE WAY! HERE IT COMES!**"

None of us needed to be told twice. All of us immediately moved out of the way to where Piccolo and Hercule were standing, except for Boo, who roared an angry challenge at my dad. Dad then let the attack fly. "**NOW, BOO! YOU DIE!**" he yelled as the attack closed in on Boo, who had not been able to blow it away with its chi.

As it was about to hit, Boo actually grabbed the attack and began to keep it at bay. "We… didn't figure on this…!" Piccolo stammered. "Goku… doesn't have the power to detonate it!"

We watched in horror as Dad struggled against Boo, but almost miraculously, Dad's energy returned to him and he transformed into a Super Saiyan. With a slight salute to his opponent, Dad detonated the attack.

…

It was eerily silent as the dust and debris settled. Gohan and I remained weary in case the monster was still alive, but the grins on the faces of everyone else told us that it was finally over. I nearly collapsed in relief. I was exhausted and sore and too much had happened. The only other time I had felt this tired was when I had transformed for the first time.

As it sank in, Hercule yelled something to what I assumed were the energy donors for the Genki-Dama, but I barely paid attention. He was an annoyance, and even though, as I found out much later, it was he who had managed to gather the energy needed for that attack, he did not deserve to be there with us at that particular point in time.

Dende, the Kais, and the boys returned a little later. Goten and Trunks were absolutely ecstatic and seemed to glow with pride as they told us how cool we had been. Dende healed us the best that he could while we listened, and the Kais surveyed the damage.

It was practically right before we left to go home that I learned that the earth had been restored along with its people. What was really surprising is that Vegeta was alive again as well, and that I had not even realized I had been brought back.

The pseudo-Lord of Lords transported us back to Kami's palace and left us as we were greeted by friends and family.

…

It was really strange. The bad guy was defeated. There were no permanent deaths and no departures waiting this time, but I just could not muster the feeling of happiness. Relief, yes, but not happiness. This entire thing could have been avoided, which is something that really could not be said of any of the other fights that had happened within the history of our select group. And so many people had died too.

I was still angry at my father and wanted little to do with him at that point in time. It was going to be hard having him back at home, at least for a while. At least Goten would be happy, since he now had his dad at beck and call.

And, then there was Gohan, with his new found strength. Apparently, he did not have a need to transform again do to the special training of that old guy that we saw. Although it was definitely unfair, since he had slacked off so much, it now gave me a reason to train even harder. There was no way that I was going to allow my little brother to outdo me.

Full-fledged training was going to have to wait for a while though. A couple days after the fight with Boo was over, when Mother had convinced herself that everyone in her family was safe and alive, Gohan and I had to go back to school. That was the last thing I wanted… especially after it got out that we were somehow involved in the whole mess.

…

Peace has once again settled onto the earth. Hopefully, it will be enough to let our heroes have a moments rest! Join us next time to see if it lasts!

* * *

1 Same as rock, paper, sissors

2 The Genki-Dama is what the anime translates as the "Spirit Bomb." The actual translation is 'spirit ball' or 'spirit sphere.'


End file.
